Two Galaxy's Saga
by Darth Malleus
Summary: Changed the name again. A freak accident transports a fleet of warships from one galaxy to another and in doing so began a chain of events, forever changing the two galaxy's, for better of worse remains to be seen. Star Wars/Warhammer 40K crossover.
1. Episode I Prologue: Collision Course

_**Warhammer**_

_**Star Wars**_

**_Episode I_**

**_Two Galaxies Saga_**

_**Collision Course**_

_**Prologue**_

**_Dramatis Persona _**

Ala'Florn, star destroyer Captain – male Twi'lek

Alana Varne, Imperium Civilian – female human

Alexander Durin, Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus – male human

Anubis, Daemon Prince of the Black Legion of Chaos – male Ascended Daemon

Deathstrike, Archon of the Dying Winds – male Dark Eldar

Gabriel Sabbath, Jedi Master – male human

Gabriella Rosso, star destroyer Captain – female human

Gilad Pallaeon, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defence Forces (GADF) – male human

Ishta Taldeer, Warlock of the Craftworld Ulthwe – female Eldar

Joseph Halos, GA Admiral – male human

Luke Skywalker, Grand Jedi Master of the Jedi Order – male human

Mara-Jade Skywalker, High Jedi Master – female human

Raana Mynn, star destroyer Captain – female Togruta

Robyn Vallace, Inquisitor – female human

William Silvermaine, Lord Inquisitor – male human

------

Space, an endless sea of stars and nebulas, planets and star systems, dark blackholes and bluish wormholes, silent, majestic, full of many wonders and sights that can leave a person starring at it's beauty in awe and fascination.

That was the last thing on anyone's mind at the moment as a massive living warship of the defeated Yuuzhan Vong Empire soared through the black silence of space.

When the Yuuzhan Vong was defeated at Yuuzhan'Tar the war should have been over, the Warmaster and many of his Supreme Commanders had surrendered along with many of their armies and naval forces. However there were some domains that refused to surrender their territories, others like remnants of their space fleets also refused to surrender and travelled across space leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

"Intensify the forward batteries" Admiral Halos ordered as the ship covered much of the view of his ships main viewport "Order the fleet to get out of its way… hard to port!"

His ship lurched as it sluggishly turned to port, all starboard turbolaser batteries and ion cannons of the _Imperial-class _Star Destroyer, _Vigilance,_ that he was on opened up on the Yuuzhan Vong Super Cruiser as it advanced, long lances of ice blue and crimson red flared out, some were sucked into the ships black void defences, but some got through and smashed into the living vessel tearing through its yorrik corral hull.

"At this rate it will smash into the planet" his second in command, Captain Florn said behind clenched needle sharp teeth "What will happen if it hits the planet?"

"It's about twenty kilometres long so it'll decimate all life on Coruscant, not even bacteria will survive" Halos replied "And by the speed it's going its definitely on a suicide run"

If the ship was to attack the galactic capital a month ago it wouldn't make it to the moons, but the combined fleets of the Galactic Alliance, Imperial Remnant, Hapes Consortium and Chiss Ascendancy were now spread across the galaxy to engage the rogue elements of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet remnants that were trying to hold onto their dwindling territories, so all that was left to defend Coruscant was a small taskforce of six _Imperial-class _Star destroyers.

"Admiral, I've detected a powerful energy reading from the vessel" Ensign Tenn Sieve called "it's coming from a weapons platform on the back of it!"

Halos and Florn scanned the Vong capital ship and saw what looked like a large artillery weapon on its back, aimed for one of the makeshift defence platforms that were hastily put up around Coruscant.

"Aim for that weapon" Halos ordered, maybe they could start a chain-reaction that would destroy the ship with the gun "All available guns open fire"

The end of the barrel of the artillery gun on the spine of the Vong ship started to glow an eerie darkish red light.

"Aim where the energy signature is strongest" Halos called "maybe we can destroy the ship along with the gun!"

The starboard batteries of the _Vigilance _opened fire on the gun, the voids appeared, sucking in much of the lances but one got through and struck the gun were the weapon met the hull, the weapon exploded sending a bluish shockwave blasting in all directions, the warship vanished into what looked like a blue wormhole and it took Halos fleet with it.

From the bridge of the lead _Golan-III _weapons platform the head gunner looked in utter disbelief at the area of empty space where the battle had been taking place, he yelled at the com-officer to contact the naval fleets HQ on Coruscant, they probably wouldn't believe him but how else could a full sector fleet vanish.

**In the next chapter the battle is moved to the Warhammer galaxy but what do you think they should meet.**

**A battle between two races**

**An Imperium Taskforce**

**A Forge or Capital World**

**So what do you guys think? It's my first crossover so bear with me and let me know if I made any mistakes. The _Warhammer galaxy_ has many blind spots that I'll need to try and fill so if you have any idea for the names of warships I'll try and add them in.**


	2. Frosty Reception

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Frosty Reception**_

_"I am Admiral Rooseland of the Imperium of Man to unidentified ships…we are under heavy attack by the traitorous forces of Chaos and are in need of assistance"_

**Admiral Rooseland**

**------**

The area of space around the World of Magos IV was a maelstrom of battle as warships of the Imperium of Man duelled with the dark tainted vessels of the Chaos Traitor fleet. The battle was a losing one for the defenders as the remainder of the enemy ships hung over them like a pack of predators ready to strike their wounded prey. 

Lance batteries and Torpedo launchers from weapons platforms and warships alike fired continuously, unleashing deadly blasts of energy and clouds of plasma torpedoes in an attempt to at least slow them down. But the traitors outnumbered them by at least three to one and had already punched holes into their defences.

Admiral Davis Rooseland grinded his teeth as his ship shook violently from several more strikes, his ship; an _Emperor-class _Battleship named the _Daemon Slayer_ was around eight kilometres in length and armed to the teeth with line after line of Lance Batteries and Plasma Cannons which were built into the well armoured hull. Out of the few remaining vessels in this force his was the only ship that was holding its own, the few Cruisers that were her escort were now smouldering hulks of wreckage and their escorts were scattered in panic.

The Admiral fell into his command chair, this is it, this is how the newest Battleship is to fall, in her first real fight against a small Chaos raiding fleet… no, by the Emperor this ship will fight off these vile traitors.

"Keep firing till the barrels of the guns glow!" he yelled.

------

Meanwhile Admiral Halos had to hold onto the railings of the command deck to keep his balance, the _Vigilance _shook violently as it was tossed around like a rag doll, outside the viewports was something not short of a passage way, the tunnel walls, if they were walls, were made of a blue light that seemed to ripple like water, then as suddenly as it started it stopped, the blue light was replaced by the blackness of space once more, the stars speckled back into existence.

"Damage report" Halos asked bewilderedly as he got back to his feet.

"No serious damage to the superstructure Admiral" Captain Florn replied a few moments later from the crew pits "But the sensors are scrambled, shields have been halved and the hyperdrive is damaged" he paused as what Halos guessed was the reports from the other ships in the fleet coming in "The _Firestorm _and _Vengeance _report the same, the _Spirit of Ithor _and _Dominator_ report that their shields are gone along with the same damage but the _Guardian _reports no damage besides slightly weakened shields"

"And the Vong?" Halos asked wearily.

The silence seemed to stretch forever as Florn and the operators scanned the surrounding area "I'm not getting any readings on Vong vessels out here sir" he finally said, slightly baffled "They're not here"

That was another surprise "What?"

"It's like they vanished sir, but my guess is that whatever just occurred was too much stress for their hull" Florn ventured, Halos felt like scoffing at that idea, the Yuuzhan Vong wouldn't be destroyed that easily, they were out there somewhere. Florn continued to scan the surrounding area before stopping, even from this distance Halos could see the eyes of the Captain widen in surprise and panic "We have incoming ships sir!!!"

"Are they Vong?" Halos returned, suddenly alert.

"The craft are unknown sir, the computer can't identify them" Florn said "But their coming in fast"

The Admiral glanced out at the space around him, the ships were too far away to be seen so he turned to the round table built into the centre of the walkway, several strategists and advisors were already there magnifying the holo-images to see these vessels. They were menacing looking craft; bristling with weapon emplacements, they were black in colour with what looked like dark red glowing veins covering the hulls.

"All ships, defensive formation" Halos suddenly yelled as the guns on the leading ship opened fire "_Spirit _and _Dominator _will be the rear guard; the rest will form up into a V-formation!!!" Halos included as the first wave of weapons fire hit off the shields of the _Vigilance _"All craft return fire with extreme prejudice!!!"

------

Admiral Rooseland watched with interest as a portion of the Chaos fleet broke away from the main battle and set a new course, he had wondered why they were leaving, then he saw the six new ships that had arrived. They were wedge shaped and about a kilometre and a half long, roughly the same size as a Space Marine Strike Cruiser.

The enemy ships that broke off to engage them were a small cluster of _Iconoclast-class _destroyers lead by an _Infidel-class _Raiding Cruiser. They came within firing range and fired with Dark Lance Batteries, that should have been it, these new vessels should have been destroyed. They not only took the bombardment but returned fire, long lances of red and blue energy collided with the attackers shields and destroyed adestroyer and sent a second drifting powerlessly out of the battle line.

Rooseland was impressed, these newcomers were definitely warships yet he had never seen them before "Scan those vessels and see what they say" he ordered the scanning officers who immediately set to work, fingers a blur as they pushed the runes of their consoles.

"The databanks have no information on these vessels my Lord" the Chief Scanning Officer answered a few moments later "But the bio scans show that around fifty percent of the inhabitants are human, the rest appear to be either xenos or droids of unknown origins"

Another assault of Dark Lance fire smashed into the shields causing the _Daemon Slayer _to shake violently, the last support Cruiser had been destroyed; she was the only Capital Ship in the fight and needed help urgently.

"Contact those ships" he said after several moments of thought, he didn't wish to accept help from xenos but he didn't have much choice at the moment "Send… a distress call!"

The communication officers hesitated slightly before searching for the frequencies of the new fleet, for the moment they will ask for assistance and see who these people are later.

------

"We are being hailed Admiral" a comm. Officer called over the chatter of the bridge.

"Put it through" Halos replied and turned to the holo-projector, the man standing before him was middle-aged and his face was covered in scars, a deadly looking gun was holstered on one side of his belt and an equally dangerous looking sword was sheathed on the other, his uniform was red and gold and his voice sounded mechanically amplified as he spoke.

"I am Admiral Rooseland of the Imperium of Man to unidentified ships…we are under heavy attack by the traitorous forces of Chaos and are in need of assistance"

Halos replied to the call, bringing himself up to his full height and clasping his hands behind his back "I am Admiral Halos of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, we would be more than happy to provide assistance"

His counterpart seemed to relax slightly before replying "We thank you in the name of the Imperium" he said before his image vanished.

Halos stood there for a few moments before turning to the comm. Officers "Order the fleet to get into a wedge formation and charge the enemy, launch all starfighter units and order the _Spirit _and _Dominance _to reroute power from unimportant systems to their shields"

"Yes sir"

------

The Star Destroyers got into a wedge and charged the Chaos fleet unleashing a continuous strategic bombardment of Turbolaser and Ion fire, a Cruiser sized ship twice the size of a Star Destroyer was torn apart by combined fire from the _Vigilance, Guardian _and _Dominance. _A second destroyer sized ship received a direct hit to what Halos thought was the bridge and started drifting aimlessly out of the already tattered enemy formation. Return fire became sporadic as the Chaos warships were taken completely by surprise by the sudden charge.

In the space around the fleet were swarms of X-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing, E-Wing and Tie Interceptors that outmanoeuvred the larger enemy fighters easily and demoralised the Chaos fleet further by doing strafing and bombing runs on the smaller support ships, as the larger fighters finally engaged, the Alliance tore their formations apart, their fighters were smaller and much faster, and plus their movements were being coordinated by a Jedi.

Admiral Rooseland and his entire crew watched silently as the Alliance warships tore a massive hole through the Chaos formations, their firepower was considerably even with the enemies but it was the sudden charge that gave them the edge, half of the fleet sent to intercept them was either destroyed or limping away from the fight. More and more ships were being diverted from the skirmish with his force to try to counter the new assault. The Imperium Admiral saw his chance and went for it.

"All weapons open fire, full impulse speed, lets choke them!!!" he shouted passionately.

The _Daemon Slayer _and the last few survivors charged forward, lance and plasma emplacements firing continuously at the confused Chaos warships, within minutes the last few traitor vessels retreated into the warp leaving the smouldering wreckage of battle behind them.

The Imperium and Alliance fleets were now facing each other and as Halos crew cheered in triumph the holo-image of Admiral Rooseland reappeared in front of him "I thank you for your assistance Admiral"

"No thanks needed Admiral" Halos replied with a nod.

"Now" Rooseland said, his expression suddenly venomous "You will surrender your ships to the Imperium or face destruction, all aliens on board your vessels are to be arrested and interrogated"

Halos stood there for a moment, letting the information sink in before looking up at his counterpart in outrage "I see" he finally said frostily, fighting to keep the anger out of his voice "And if I refuse?"

**Well what do you think of that? In the next chapter the Alliance and Imperium fleets are at a standoff with Imperium reinforcements on the way, will the Alliance fight or will they run? And what happened to the Yuuzhan Vong? The mysterious Jedi Knight will also make his/her first appearance (Haven't decided what gender yet or even if it's a Knight or Master). Stay tuned for the next chapter, _Standoff. _Oh and don't forget to review.**


	3. Standoff

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Standoff**_

_"These 'creatures' as you call them are people who I would trust with my life. I have fought with these people, bled with them, made friendships and bonds that will never be broken with them and as long as you threaten them you will threaten me and any human on these ships!!!"_

**Admiral Joseph Halos to Inquisitor Delshon**

------

Half way across the system, resting on the surface of an asteroid was a small craft; it was sleek and looked more like a work of art than an actual scouting vessel, from the small bridge of the ship a woman sat in the command chair, eyes of pure purple watching the images of the two clusters of ships that were several million kilometres away.

She was an Eldar, one of the oldest races in the galaxy, she stood roughly a head taller than an average human, the curves of a slender figure clearly visible with the body hugging mesh armour she wore, she had pale skin which signified that she had lived most of her life in space and her white hair was done up in a topknot, she had a shuriken pistol holstered on her belt and a power sword which was leaning against her command chair.

Her name was Ishta Taldeer, a Warlock of the Ulthwé Craftworld and she was here because the Farseers of her people had reported visions of an unknown force entering the galaxy, a force that could forever change the future, the Council was annoyingly vague about the important details.

Her fellow Eldar on the cramped bridge were sitting at their designated positions sifting through the records for any information on these wedge shaped warships, so far they had found nothing, but long ranged bio-scans showed that the crews of these vessels were mixed, wherever these people came from their nation had to be similar to the Tau Empire.

Her fingers pressed quickly against the runes of her command chair, magnifying the image of a group of Strike Cruisers leaving the warp a few hundred kilometers behind the Imperium ships, their armoured hulls painted in the colours of the Blood Raven's Chapter.

She would report what she had seen to the Ulthwé Commander and see what he thought on the matter, she knew that although the Space Marines were the most dangerous warriors of the Imperium, certain Chapters like the Blood Raven's and Space Wolves did not employ the same shoot first and ask later ideal that the Imperial Guard and Navy seemed to be built on.

As her fingers danced along the runes of her chairs control panel she kept both eyes on the opponent fleets, she encrypted the transmission to the Eldar Taskforce several times before sending it, if the Imperium became hostile to these people they will be forced to intervene.

------

The two fleets had been facing each other for close to three hours, their weapons armed and ready to fire at a moment's notice, their shields set to full power. For the last three hours Halos and Rooseland had been in a series of diplomatic talks, they were going nowhere so Halos had called the only person in the fleet capable of diplomacy; the Jedi Master had been called from his state of meditation and was on his way. At the other end was a man dressed in black armoured robes and held a staff, his face was just as scarred as the Admirals, Rooseland had introduced him as Inquisitor Delshon, the look of this man made Halos wish that the Jedi would hurry up, get here and level the negotiations.

"Once again Admiral" Rooseland repeated for the hundredth time "Power down and surrender, you are hopelessly outnumbered"

"As long as you continue to threaten half my crews with arrest and interrogation because they are not human I will not surrender" Halos returned.

He glanced at the force assembled in front of him, a massive battleship at least eight kilometres long was at the head with at least ten smaller vessels that ranged in size from five hundred metres long to a kilometre, he also saw half a dozen weapon platforms that would match if not overcome a _Golan-III _in firepower. He was outnumbered and outgunned but his ships were in better condition, several of the opposing warships had smoke billowing out of certain areas from hull breaches and fires.

His ships however were battle ready; the shields and weapons were completely regenerated on all his ships, the fighters had landed, refuelled, rearmed and were just itching to launch for another fight.

"Those creatures are a threat to the Imperium as long as they are within our territories" Inquisitor Delshon replied angrily.

"These 'creatures' as you call them are people who I would trust with my life" Halos replied, the anger now completely clear in his voice "I have fought with these people, bled with them, made friendships and bonds that will never be broken with them and as long as you threaten them you will threaten me and any human on these ships!!!"

The people on his bridge, on every bridge and corridor, mess hall and engine room, weapon battery and hanger bays of his fleet were voicing their agreement for the Admiral.

The hiss of the bridge door opening made Halos smile slightly, the Jedi master had arrived. The man walked into the bridge, two Imperial Stormtroopers entered with him and walked to the side, the Jedi was human, his brown robes seemed to be caught on a non-existent wind as he walked, the entire bridge quietened and watched the Master in awe and respect, his face was hidden in the shadows of his large hood and as he came up beside Halos he raised his hands and lowered his hood showing a man of at least twenty-five with short dark brown hair, pale skin and ice blue eyes, he hooked his hands through his black belt showing the silver cylinder of a lightsabre hilt, he had certainly caught the men at the other sides attention.

"Gentlemen" Halos stated proudly "It is my honour to introduce to you Gabriel Sabbath, A Jedi Master of the Jedi Order, who are the guardians and protectors of the Galactic Alliance"

Gabriel bowed in greeting to the Imperium officers, they didn't even move, just studied him with cold eyes; the Jedi Master didn't even flinch under their gazes.

It was the Inquisitor who spoke first "You will convince your Admiral to surrender and have all xenos prepare for arrest and interrogation"

"That is unacceptable…Inquisitor" Gabriel replied calmly "The only way we are going to reach an agreement is if you withdraw your threats of surrender and of arrest and interrogation"

"What!?" Delshon hissed.

"Furthermore if you wish to fight us may I suggest you look at your fleet first" Gabriel pointed out calmly "They are weakened by the battle against the Chaos fleet that we were fighting earlier while our fleet is practically unharmed, only your battleship would pose much of a threat and I sense that we are out of range of your weapon platforms, our fighters would tear you apart" Halos stopped himself from grinning ear to ear at the Jedi's concealed threat "I would rather we settled this peacefully and if you wish we will leave your territories and find help elsewhere"

"Admiral" one of the comm. Officers shouted "We have several new vessels appearing…three ships, roughly a kilometre and a half long!"

"That would be the Space Marines we sent for" Delshon said smugly "Surrender or we will tear you're vessels apart and salvage the technology you possess"

"You think three more ships scare me Inquisitor?" Halos replied, his voice taking on the threatening, confident tone that Imperial officers were famous for "That just means that the playing field is even, our fighters are still superior to yours!"

"Oh Admiral, it is only because you saved us that I don't give the order to destroy you right now" Delshon said "But if you insist…Admiral Rooseland, aim for their engines, cripple them and let the Space Marines finish the job!"

The images flickered and vanished, Halos spun to his bridge crew and ordered the shields up, they came on line just as the first long range lance and plasma beams hit.

"Return fire" Halos ordered "Long range Turbolaser and Ion cannons only…turn the fleet around and prepare for hyperspace"

"Not a good idea Admiral" Florn said "If this is unexplored space then we have no coordinates to jump too, we'd probably end up in a black hole or a sun"

Halos cursed in Hutteze as another wave of lance fire smacked into the bridge shield, the reds and blues of turbolaser and ion fire lanced out in response to the Imperiums attack.

------

_Typical - _Ishta thought as the Imperium vessels opened fire – _Trust the Imperium to stab someone in the back._

"Send this to Commander Sersa" she ordered "The worst scenario has come to be"

As her communications officer made contact Ishta noticed that the Space Marine reinforcements were not joining the battle, she pondered on why because usually the Space Marines would lead an assault. Only one idea came to her mind, they didn't agree with the Navies attack.

"My Lady" Her comm. Officer spoke "Commander Sersa is on the way!"

"Our job here is finished then" she said "Take us out and to the rendezvous point!"

Ishta relaxed as the scout hummed to life, docking hooks detached from the asteroids surface with a mechanical clang and the little craft sped away from its perch and jumped into the warp as quietly as it came.

------

While the Imperium fleet was bombarding the Alliance Inquisitor Delshon was in another argument with the leader of the Space Marine reinforcements "This is treason Angelus!!!"

The image of Brother-Captain Angelus starred venomously at the Inquisitor "They save your worthless neck and you would rather destroy them than thank them, my men will not join in on your pathetic attempt to gain glory"

"Admiral, we have ships coming in"

"Chaos?"

"No sir it's…Eldar!"

Delshon turned around as the main screen lit up showing the Eldar vessels that were jumping out of the warp, the sleek craft were a sight to behold, long with dragon like wings near the back, their hulls were covered with gun batteries and the speed of the vessels should have been impossible, if the taskforce didn't look impressive enough replicas of the vessels appeared out of nowhere making the fleet look three times bigger than it really was.

Rooseland growled angrily "They're using holofields to protect their ships"

Several Imperium Destroyers broke off and fired upon the Eldar ships, but the lance and plasma weapons phased through the decoys, the Eldar though opened fire with their lance batteries scoring several hits on the ships trying to intercept them.

------

"Admiral the new ships are hailing us" a comm. Officer yelled.

Halos and Sabbath sighed wearily before telling them to patch it through, the figure that appeared was a humanoid, and its slender form was encased in black and white armour with a strange gun strapped to his hip and some sort of lance held in his armour gloved right hand, when he spoke the voice sounded musical.

"I am Commander Sersa of the Eldar" he said "We are sending coordinates for a rendezvous, whether you wish to meet with us or not is entirely up to you"

"What do you think Admiral?" Sabbath asked.

Halos glanced at the Jedi Master before saying "Do we have a choice, all ships turn to the given course and jump!"

The Alliance warships turned in unison, firing lances of turbolaser and ion fire at the Imperium ships as they went, the Eldar craft got into formation around them and together the two fleets jumped away from the Imperium force.

------

On the bridge of the Imperium Strike Cruiser _Emperor's Grace _Brother-Captain Angelus glared at the place were the Alliance was and silently cursed the Inquisitor for firing at the ships before he could contact them, he was under strict orders from the _Fabricator General, _one of the _High Lords of Terra_ to make contact with these vessels on friendly terms.

The High Lord had sensed a large output of psychic energy in the warp and had Angelus' forces investigate the matter, now this Inquisitor would live the rest of his life in disgrace, he may not live at all.

**What do you think of that? I hope I got the Imperium right. In the next chapter the Alliance and Eldar will open negotiations with each other. May be a bit difficult, what with the Eldar's uneasiness to humans and all, how will these negotiations go, just wait and see. Stay tuned for the next chapter, should be an interesting challenge. Oh and don't forget to review.**


	4. Revelations

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Revelations**_

_"However I would like to know were we are. I have never heard of an Imperium of Mankind, Chaos or Eldar"_

**Admiral Joseph Halos**

------

The noises of the hanger bay silenced themselves as the Eldar shuttle glided through the ray shields and settled down on the metal decking, all around the bay mechanics, pilots and soldiers alike stopped what they were doing.

A squad of eight Alliance Honor Guard marched up silently, their blue robes snapping as they walked and stood in a line at attention beside the descending ramp.

Admiral Halos and his entourage of six fleet captains and one Jedi Master stood a few feet away from the last guard and watched as four Eldar descended the ramp. They're armour was black and white in color with crest shaped helmets, two of the Eldar were armed with strange long blasters with narrow barrels, another wore a black robe along with her armour and held a double-bladed sword, the leader had his helmet tucked under his arm showing a head slightly taller and narrower than the average humans with pointed ears and intelligent eyes that scanned the hanger as he walked.

The unsheathed weapons made the Honor Guard tighten their grips on their rifles and Master Sabbath place a hand on his lightsabre. The Eldar were standing right in front of them now and Halos could see that they stood a head taller than an average human.

"I am Commander Sersa of the Ulthwé Craftworld" he introduced "This is Warlock Taldeer"

"I am Admiral Halos of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances" Halos replied, not for a moment intimidated by the weapons held in their hands "Welcome to the _Vigilance_"

"Thank you Admiral" Sersa replied "May we take these negotiations to a more convenient setting?"

Halos nodded "We have the briefing room ready Commander, if you'll just follow us"

The Alliance officers lead the Eldar down the labyrinth of corridors to the commanding officers briefing room, the Eldar Warlock and Commander took seats at one side of the table, their guards standing at attention behind them while the Alliance officers sat at the other.

"I would like to thank you for your assistance Commander" Halos began "Without your help we may be floating in vacuum by now"

"No thanks needed Admiral" Sersa replied.

"However I would like to know were we are" Halos added "I have never heard of an Imperium of Mankind, Chaos or Eldar"

"From what the Farseer council has told me you and you're people have been thrown from one galaxy to another" Sersa answered "They sensed a massive distortion in the warp and sent us to investigate"

The officers of the Alliance fell silent for a moment, thrown from one galaxy to another, they just hoped that they were transported to the unknown regions and that they would be able to get back within a day or two. If what this Eldar told them was true then they were stuck in a dangerous galaxy that they knew next to nothing about.

"Sensed, does that mean your Farseers are psychic?" Master Sabbath asked finally.

"Our entire race is psychic…Jedi Master Sabbath" Taldeer replied, Gabriel didn't ask how she knew; he sensed her brushing his mind but didn't bother bringing up any shields, if first contact with these people was going to be successful then they needed to see that the Alliance was no threat to them. The other captains glanced between the two wondering how she knew the Jedi's name.

"Admiral Halos" Sersa said "Normally we Eldar do not interfere with other races unless our people's lives were at stake; however the Farseers foresee that you and your people will be very important to the future of this galaxy"

"However we cannot give you any real assistance yet Admiral" Warlock Taldeer added "The future is still very uncertain. We are willing however to upgrade your shields and engines to protect you against the warp"

"Why do we need protection against this warp?" Captain Rosso of the _Vengeance _asked.

"The warp is very dangerous in this galaxy captain" Taldeer explained "It is infested with monsters known as Daemons that would kill anyone not protected by a Geller field, you're shields are similar to Geller fields but need a little modification" She paused for a moment "The Daemons also infest your style of faster than light travel, although they're presence is greatly weakened there they are still a danger"

"In that case we will gladly accept your assistance" Halos replied.

------

Two days passed and the modifications were completed, the Eldar technicians, known as Bonesingers worked with the Alliance technicians and mechanics to add the upgrades and modifications to the shields and engines, the nasal exhausts had changed in colour from an ion blue to a violet as the engines were upgraded and tests on the shields had shown their durability increased twofold.

Admiral Halos glanced around the briefing room, all six of his captains were present, the Jedi Master choose to survey the final modifications to the _Spirit of Ithor _to allow Captain Severi to attend the meeting.

His six fleet captains were Florn of the _Vigilance, _Rosso of the _Vengeance, _Mynn of the _Firestorm, _Severi of the _Spirit of Ithor, _Verge of the _Guardian _and Terik of the _Dominance_.

"If what the Commander says was true then we're stuck in a galaxy unknown to us" Severi said, her red eyes were widened in disbelief "We don't know potential allies from potential threats"

"Indeed" Mynn agreed, the female Togruta seemed to be leaning on her chair for support "But at least with the galaxy maps the Eldar gave us we'll know where we're going"

"And the Eldar have told us who to stay away from" Florn added.

"But the Commander also said that the borders are always changing" Terik pointed out.

"Everyone calm down" Halos said soothingly, suddenly wishing he had a Jedi's ability to calm a mind "If we start to panic than we won't survive long, it is clear that although the Eldar are willing to trade and offer advice to us they are not willing to fight for us"

"Then what do you think our next move should be Admiral?" Florn asked.

"We return to the Magos System once the modifications are complete" Halos said and raised a hand to silence the protests "We contact the Space Marines and ask for help, if what Sersa told me was true the Blood Raven reinforcements refused to fire upon us, that means they wished to make contact"

"Sir" Captain Rosso interjected softly, a strand of long red hair sweeping across her delicate features "What if they ambush us on arrival"

"That captain is why myself and Florn are going alone on the _Vigilance_" Halos replied "The rest of the fleet is to stay behind until we send a transmission, only move to Magos if it is myself or the captain that signals you…clear" he stopped to look over the worried faces of his captains before continuing "If we are ambushed then Captain Rosso is in charge, you are to head for the Tau border and see if they are willing to help…understand"

Rosso opened her mouth to protest but shut it again, like Halos she was from the Imperial remnant, she served with him from as far back as the end of the Galactic Civil War and the two have been close friends ever since. He knew that she would go with him if she was given the chance.

"Meeting is adjourned" Halos said and rose from his chair.

------

As the _Vigilance _broke away from the Alliance formation Halos was speaking to Sersa whose fleet had formed up and were beginning to jump into their style of faster than light travel, the webway.

"The Blood Ravens are no fools Admiral" Sersa reassured "Unlike some elements of the Imperium armed forces they know when to fire and when to talk"

"I hope so Commander" Halos said.

"I know so Admiral" Sersa said confidently "Farewell"

The last Eldar cruiser jumped into the warp and Halos turned to the bridge crew, ordering the _Vigilance _to jump, a rift opened ahead of the Star destroyer and sucked the cruiser in, Halos looked in awe and horror at the space that surrounded her, the specks of light that represented the stars that flew by the hull ranged from thousands of different colours and seemed to ripple slightly, the Star Destroyer shook slightly from stem to sturn almost as if something was hitting the shields.

The Eldar had warned him about the tainting that the warp inflicted on every style of faster than light travel within this galaxy but Halos didn't believe it until he saw it, as the Admiral sat on his command chair he mentally prepared himself for more journeys like this to come.

**How was that? The Alliance has an idea as to where they are, the Eldar are willing to trade with the Alliance but not fight with them…yet, and Halos is going to try and speak with the Imperium without resorting to firing. In the next chapter its what you've been waiting for, what happened to the Yuuzhan Vong, they meet a race just as cruel and merciless as they are…I know just what race to use, don't forget to review…May the Force be With You.**

**Question, Eldar do use teleporters but can they use them to transport strike teams onto ships that have lost shields?**


	5. The Far Outsiders

_**Chapter 4**_

_**The Far-Outsiders**_

_"Their throneworld was within our grasp. Where are we!?"_

**Supreme Commander Sharlick Carr**

------

The Super Cruiser _Yun-Yuuzhan _was in a pitiful state, its strong Yorrik Corral hull was pocketed with small craters and hull breaches from the infidel Alliances turbolaser bombardments, the worm holes sudden appearance didn't help matters either as the friction from the phenomenon had damaged the hull further killing many of the Dovin Basals that dealt with shielding and movement, the ship was able to move but not jump to dark-space, it was dead in space and the Yuuzhan Vong onboard knew it.

The portside of the ship blasted apart and through the massive breach came a small strike fleet of nine vessels, two _Uro-ik v'alh_ Battleships and seven _Matalok_ Cruiser escorts. On the bridge of the lead Battleship _Gods Wrath _Supreme Commander _Sharlick Carr _watched as the Super Cruiser exploded under the fire of his fleets guns before grabbing his amphistaff and decapitating an unlucky shamed one, his guards instinctively stood back outside of the weapons reach.

"Their throne world was within our grasp" the old warrior hissed menacingly "Where are we!?"

"I do not know sire" one of his bridge officers said "The worm hole could have thrown us halfway across the galaxy, but the stars are out of alignment on all of the recorded charts"

"So for all you know we could be in the void between galaxies" Carr hissed in response.

"No sire" his sensor officer replied "The Yammosk considers that we may be in a different galaxy"

"Really" the Supreme Commander said before sitting in his throne-like command chair, a venomous smile touching his tattered lips "Perhaps the gods haven't abandoned us after all. Send out scouting squadrons to find an inhabitable planet, if this is a new galaxy then perhaps we can start a new empire here"

------

The Bio-ship glided silently through space, a large bulk of tough skin with a massive maw, bristling with several large tentacles that were curled up. It was a survivor of Hive Fleet Kraken; a once massive fleet consisting of thousands of Tyranid bio and hive-ships, the fleet was routed and scattered all over the sector by the humans of the Imperium of Man.

The Bio-ship and its occupants of Tyranids were hibernating until they were close to an inhabited system, then it would feed and they would know that Hive Fleet Kraken was not dead yet.

------

"My Lord we have located a large object several thousand kilometres to port, possibly a ship"

The Supreme Commander looked up from his chair and ordered the _Gods Wrath_ to zoom to the location, it was a large ship twice the size of a _Uro-ik v'alh_ that strangely enough reminded him of a creature, it didn't have any limps but it had a long fish like tail, spines across its back and a mouth at the front that was surrounded by tentacles.

"Scan the ship" Carr ordered "What is it made of?"

The scanning officers set to work and had an answer a few moments later "It is not made of metal my lord, it is made of living tissue similar to our ships"

"Perhaps this could be useful" Sharlick Carr said with a smile "I want that ship captured, it may have star charts and information on this galaxy…it could be salvageable, what does the Yammosk sense"

There was a pause again before the Villip Coordinator responded "The Yammosk senses hundreds of bio-signs onboard…it's frightened of the vessel"

That was interesting, a Yammosk was the Yuuzhan Vong's answer to comm. Units, it was a large organism that coordinated whole fleets of warships in a battlefield, it knew death and destruction very well yet whatever was on that warship was scaring it "What could possibly scare a War Coordinator?"

"It senses a great hunger on that ship my lord" the coordinator replied "A hunger for anything with a pulse"

"It's heading this way my lord"

"Have all warships form up into a battle formation" Carr yelled "Prepare for long range bombardment!"

------

The Bio-ship awakened with a start, it sensed the living, they were close, it's hunger took over and it turned in the direction of the life signs setting an intercept course, the tentacles around its maw uncoiled and reached in the direction trying desperately and hungrily to cross the impossible distance to the craft that were approaching, within it was hundreds of Tyranids, awake and hungry, screeching loudly for something to eat.

Finally it saw the source that awakened it, a small fleet of warships, living vessels that made it more hungry by just looking at them, as it got closer they opened fire on it, hundreds of balls of plasma spewed out of the ships it was approaching, smashing into its front section and tearing its maw and tentacles to a hundred bloodied pieces, the plasma bursts hit the port and starboard frontal portions of the armoured hull tearing through to the flesh and tearing through that as well creating hull breaches, the Bio-ship convulsed and screamed in agony, blue blood spewed out of its wounds and was immediately frozen in space.

The ships closed in and the Bio-ship sensed presences aboard that ship just as merciless and bloodthirsty as the Tyranid warriors that were practically climbing up the tunnels within it, waiting impatiently for the food to come to them.

The three largest ships surrounded the crippled and dying living craft, long tunnel tubes launched from their sides and tore into the Bio-ship, before it finally lost consciousness it felt the Tyranids rush towards the entry points, claws and teeth unsheathed and ready to feed.

------

Commander Sharl Kwaad growled in anticipation as the last wall of flesh between them and their opponents was being cut through, soon his men and he would draw and taste blood, his amphistaff hissed in anticipation and stiffened as the last wall collapsed.

What came through was almost terrifying, dozens of lizard creatures ran through the new opening, scythe like claws and teeth ready to bring death, their eyes were feral, and dead, it barely knew of his presence and Kwaad swung his amphistaff and decapitated one of the first reptiles that spewed through the opening.

The two sides clashed, these alien reptiles swung, dived and sliced into his warriors tearing the front line, severing limps and cutting of heads but the Yuuzhan Vong were just as deadly, swinging their amphistaff's either stiffened or bending like whips severing bladed limps, cutting through abdomens and tearing of heads, being volleyed over the heads of the Yuuzhan Vong were small swarms of thud and razor bugs that soared and tore through the reptiles.

Sharl Kwaad grinned and holding his amphistaff over his head led his force into the Bio-ship, his warriors screamed war-cries and followed him. More of these monsters came running out of the dark confines of the ship, either running on the floors or scampering across walls and ceilings towards the Yuuzhan Vong taskforce, hundreds of razor bugs were thrown tearing the creatures apart, but they kept coming, eventually having to climb over mountains of their own dead to get to him and his warriors.

The Yuuzhan Vong continued a gruelling advance through the living vessel slaughtering the monsters that attacked them, he managed a brief glance down the corridor that they had come from, hundreds of mangled alien bodies covered the floors, their blood spewed on the walls with the remains of twelve of his own warriors scattered among them.

They met up with other groups of warriors who also fought their way through the ship, the stream of monsters became a trickle and finally ceased altogether, Commander Kwaad grinned, wiping away blue blood that was covering his face, the battle had been long and enjoyable, but costly killing nearly half of his assigned warriors.

Now it was a hunt for any survivors, the threat would need to be completely eradicated before the shapers and priests were allowed to enter.

------

Supreme Commander Carr stood in one of the many openings within the ship that had been captured and secured two days ago, during that time the priests had sanctified the tainted living vessel and the shapers had started their work, scanning the vessel and using their living tools, the Yammosk had sensed that great knowledge was hidden here and the shapers had finally found a way to open it, the dying craft was now talking with the Yammosk.

All around him was a full honour guard of twelve veteran warriors, their amphistaff's held within clawed hands, several head shapers were also present who were talking with the Yammosk.

Head Shaper Yer turned to face the Supreme Commander, the Yammosk gently placed a tentacle on her shoulder, the shaper smiled and caringly caressed the tentacle of the War Coordinator before turning back to her superior "My lord the race of creatures that we fought are known as Tyranids, they are an extragalactic race that live of killing and harvesting planets and the people that live on them, they add the useful changes from their victims to themselves, strengthening them"

"Is the ship compatible with our own?" Carr asked, uncaring as what race previously owned it, these creatures were semi-sentient pests who would be dealt with once the Yuuzhan Vong recovered their strength.

"Yes my lord" The High Shaper replied, smiling enthusiastically "It is highly compatible with our own vessels, there are several possible hybrids that we can create to strengthen our military forces"

"Is there any more of them in the area?" Carr asked.

Yer turned to the Yammosk and after mentally conversing with him shook her head "As far as the Bio-ship knows it's on its own…it was part of a Hive fleet called Kraken that was made of thousands of ships…it was routed and scattered by an empire known as the Imperium of Man…humans"

Carr snarled at the name of one of the main races that destroyed Supreme Overlord Shimmra's Empire, once he had a hold on this galaxy he would strike this empire and crush it under his and his armies Vonduun Crab boots.

Seeing the rage in the Commanders eyes Yer changed the subject "The Bio-ship has given us star charts to this area of the sector, there are several inhabitable worlds that are remote enough to create a stronghold"

The Supreme Commander nodded "Attach the ship to the _Tsavong Lah _and _Venom spitter,_ prepare for Dark-Jump to the safest point"

**What do you think? The Yuuzhan Vong have a semi-working Tyranid Bio-ship, what horrors will they unleash upon an unknowing galaxy? I originally thought of using the Dark Eldar but an encounter with the Tyranids is soo much cooler. In the next chapter we switch to the _Vigilance _were Admiral Halos is about to contact the Imperium, will the outcome be any better or will they get the same welcome?**


	6. Taking a Chance

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Taking a Chance**_

_"We come from a society known as the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, a cooperative that spans most of our galaxy and includes thousands of worlds and races"_

**Admiral Joseph Halos to Gabriel Angelos**

------

As the _Imperial II-class _Star Destroyer returned to the Magos system its weapon batteries powered up and its shields were raised, from the hanger bay flew a steady flow of Tie Interceptor, X-Wing and B-Wing starfighters that formed up around the _Vigilance, _creating a defensive screen around their carrier, if the Imperium was to attack again they would have a real fight on their hands.

From the bridge of the capital-ship Admiral Halos scanned the floating weapons platforms, their massive gun turrets and torpedo launchers now trailing his ship, each platform with enough firepower to obliterate his Cruiser in a single barrage. Around these fortresses of death were the dim lights and engine exhausts of dozens of ships ranging in size from Gunships to much bigger Frigates, Destroyers and a Battleship that he recognised as the _Daemon Slayer._

"No going back now Admiral" Florn said, his yellow eyes scanning the defences that lay out in front of them.

"Open a channel to the Battleship"

The main screen flickered to life showing the form of Admiral Rooseland; beside him was a man twice his size at around three meters tall, he wore extravagant battle-armour that was a blood red in colour, a bulky gun was holstered at one side of his waist and a power sword was sheathed on the other, his hair was white with scarred features and eyes that looked hundreds of years older than he was.

"Admiral Halos?" the Space Marine asked.

Instinctively the Admiral brought himself up to his full height, clasping his hands behind his back before he spoke "Yes"

"I am Brother-Captain Angelus of the Blood Ravens 3rd Company" the towering warrior introduced "In the name of the Emperor I apologize for any hostilities brought upon you"

Halos exchanged glances with Florn before turning back to the Space Marine "Apology accepted Brother-Captain"

The Marine nodded "I wish to open negotiations with you, to show that I am serious I will come to your ship personally"

"Thank you Brother-Captain, we will prepare a welcome"

------

The Imperium _Thunderhawk _shuttle glided noisily into the hanger bay, it was a farcry from the silent Eldar shuttle that was in this very hanger almost four days ago, its armoured hull bore the colours of the Blood Ravens with the markings of an Imperial Eagle on its wings and tail fins, as well as that there was another symbol, a black bird in flight with a drip of blood on its head.

As it landed clumsily on the metal decking a unit of blue-robed Honour Guard marched up to the descending boarding ramp, behind them marched another two squads of GA Soldiers, fully armed with blaster rifles and vibro-weapons.

Halos, Florn and Master Sabbath stood in the hanger waiting for the elite warriors of the Imperium to make their appearance. The Space Marine Captain was the first to step onto the hanger deck, beside him was a man equally as tall and intimidating as him, wearing yellow armour, holding a staff with a strange marking at the tip, his bald head bore the scars of battle with several mechanical implants, two soldiers marched behind them, their blood red armour was more simple than Angelus, wearing helmets and holding large guns against their chests, Angelus stopped a few steps away from Halos.

"Welcome to the _Vigilance_ sir" Halos greeted, holding out his hand, Angelus took it and shook it firmly, although Halos hand almost disappeared in Angelus's armoured fist.

"Thank you Admiral" Angelus replied "This is Librarian Crone"

The Librarian nodded in greeting to the three Alliance officers "I must say Admiral this ship is of a design I have never seen before"

"It is an _Imperial II-class _Star destroyer" Florn explained "One of the primary warship classes of the Galactic Alliance"

"Interesting" Angelus replied, his eyes scanning the Twi'lek captain "What is this Galactic Alliance?"

"We will explain later Brother-Captain" Halos interjected "However I think we should take this to a more private location"

Halos and his entourage led the Imperium officers to the briefing room, while Halos, Florn and Gabriel took seats Angelus and his entourage choose to remain standing because the chairs weren't big enough for them.

"Now what empire do you come from?"

"We come from a society known as the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, a cooperative that spans most of our galaxy and includes thousands of worlds and races" Halos explained.

"So you come from another galaxy?" Angelos asked.

"It appears so, yes"

"You say that you live peacefully with alien races?" Crone asked in surprise.

"Yes, there are thousands of alien races including my own that are members of the Galactic Alliance" Florn answered, not backing down from the towering Librarian's gaze "Is it any different here?"

"Yes, completely different" the Librarian replied a little threateningly "The main power in this galaxy is our own, the Imperium of Man, the only aliens that I know of that stand with us are the sub-human Ogryns of the Imperial Guard"

"My apologies but what is the Imperial Guard?" Gabriel asked in interest.

"They are our main defensive and offensive armies" Angelus answered "Along with the Space Marines they fight off any threat made to the Imperium of Man and are the main force in crusades to capture enemy worlds. The Guard number in the billions and are our military backbone"

"Billions" Gabriel echoed "Just how big is the Imperium?"

"The Imperium governs over a million worlds which are spread out across the galaxy…we are however in a constant state of war as many alien races wish nothing more than to completely destroy us. It has been this way for ten thousand years"

"By the force" Gabriel exclaimed "Ten thousand years of war"

"In any case we now know for certain that you are from another galaxy" Crone replied "If you weren't our two empires would have meet each other thousands of years ago, we seem to have vastly different histories and our technologies are also completely different"

"We would like to have our people examine the area where the worm hole appeared to see if it can be reopened again" Halos said "Saying that we are in your territories I ask for permission"

"You have permission Admiral and we would like to negotiate a trade of knowledge on your home galaxy" Angelos said.

Halos nodded "We are happy to grant you knowledge in return for the same on your empire and galaxy"

"Agreed Admiral" Angelos said.

------

It had been three days since that first meeting with the Space Marines; Halos had recalled his taskforce from deep space and under the protection of the Blood Raven's were now docked within the massive space station that orbited Magos IV.

The Alliance scientists had thoroughly searched the area where the worm hole once was and came to the conclusion that it had completely closed up, the Alliance would need to find another way home and it appeared the only ones who could help were the Imperium.

Angelus had stationed his most trusted Space Marine units along with the visitors own security troopers at the entrance points to the Alliance ships to make sure nobody unfriendly tried to gain entry.

From his personal quarters Angelus and Crone were looking through the datapads that Halos had supplied, scrolls of data passed by the screen showing information on the Galactic Alliance and its member states as well as recent galactic history.

"Found anything interesting Typhus?" Angelus asked as he scrolled through the mountains of information on the datapad.

"Yes sir I have" Typhus said "This Galactic Federation is an Alliance consisting of former member worlds of a fallen empire called the New Republic, another known as the Imperial Remnant, the Hapan Consortium, Bakura and the Corporate Sector"

"Very interesting…from the data Halos supplied it is a very young empire, what brought it to be?"

"Apparently the arrival of a race known as the Yuuzhan Vong" the old Librarian replied "They arrived into the galaxy and started a crusade to turn the native peoples, human and xeno alike to their religion, they carved a trail of destruction through the galaxy starting a set of conflicts known as the Yuuzhan Vong Wars which lasted for five years…they slaughtered trillions, destroyed several worlds and took the Galactic Capital, a planet known as Coruscant"

"Sounds like they'd fit right into this Emperor forsaken galaxy" Angelus remarked dryly "What happened?"

"The main empires came together under the banner of the Galactic Alliance and fought back" Crone replied "Claiming victory after victory on the stretched Vong armadas until their combined fleets met the Yuuzhan Vong on their throne world, a small strike team made of Commandos, battle droids and a unit of warriors known as the Jedi Knights infiltrated the planet and assassinated their leader, the war ended there and the Vong empire began to fragment…permission to speak freely sir?"

"Of course"

"Can we truly trust these people…they are allied with xenos"

"I know it sounds strange Crone" Angelus admitted "But these people saved this system from a Chaos fleet…they have proven themselves courageous and honourable in my eyes"

"But what if you are wrong?" Crone persisted.

"If I am wrong we will destroy them" Angelus replied evenly "We will take them to the capital world of the sector, let the Tech-Priests look through their ships, they will decide whether their technology is pure or not"

------

The grey sphere of the forge world, Helios Prime, was an incredibly impressive sight; the planet was surrounded by a mass of plasma minefields with large weapon platforms and even larger space stations scattered among them, the engine trails and running lights of thousands of patrolling warships were clearly seen as the Blood Raven Cruisers led the Alliance fleet through the many layers of planetary defences towards the main space stations, four massive orbiting fortresses that were thirty kilometres at least from top to bottom.

As the Alliance vessels docked with the station Brother-Captain Angelus contacted Halos "Admiral we must ask you to stand down your forces, our Tech-Priests need to do a thorough examination of your technology to be sure it is no threat"

"I assure you Captain that we are no threat to you" Halos replied.

"And I believe you Admiral but it's not me you need to sway, it's the Tech-Priests, you see they believe that only technology made by humans is safe and unless proven otherwise believe that any alien technology needs to be sanctified and thoroughly checked before they deem it as safe"

"The Imperium is becoming more and more complicated to understand every minute" Halos remarked before looking up at the Space Marine "You're not staying Captain?"

"I'm afraid that we have another mission, we were on our way to a system under attack by the Orks when we were called to Magos" Angelus replied "The Adeptus Mechanicus is sending a _Retribution-class _Battleship to act as your protectors, until they arrive you will be under the jurisdiction of a unit of my Chapters most trusted Tech-Priests, they should arrive shortly"

"We thank you for your help Captain" Halos thanked.

"I hope we will meet again Admiral" Angelus replied, his lips curled up into a smile "Farewell"

------

A Blood Ravens ship, a _Dictator-class _Cruiser that registered as the_ Sword _jumped out of the warp and made its way through the defences with practised ease, docking alongside the Star Destroyers. A _Thunderhawk _left the hanger of the impressive warship and made its way towards the _Vigilance._

Halos and his entourage stood waiting for the Tech-Priests to make their appearance, the shuttle landed and it's main ramp descended, the occupants walked down to the deck, the Tech-Priests, dressed in long red cloaks with the insignia of the Blood Ravens imprinted on their metallic coloured armour, their faces covered in augmentations to the point that they looked like masks, each one held a long metal staff that from what Halos read was their main tool as well as a weapon.

"Admiral Halos I am Tech-Priest Rune of the Blood Ravens" the lead priest introduced "I have been ordered to inspect your ships technology"

**Well how was that? In the next chapter you will see the Adeptus Mechanicus putting the Alliance technology through its paces but an enemy is watching and is also interested in acquiring the new technology. Who might it be? See in the next chapter…the Emperor Protects!**


	7. Allies and Enemies

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Allies and Enemies**_

_"Magi this technology could be the Imperiums salvation. Their faster than light travel, their galaxy-wide communications systems among other things would give us the edge against our enemies!"_

**Tech-Priest Rune**

------

The _Retribution-Class _Battleship was an impressive sight, named the _Emperors Fire_, at twelve kilometres from bow to stern; its port and starboard sides were covered with row upon row of powerful weapon batteries, by just looking at this behemoth Halos knew that it could match if not overcome an _Executer-class _Star Dreadnought in a contest of pure firepower.

As his _Lambda-class _Shuttle flew gracefully towards the Imperium Battleship Halos glanced at his other passengers, Tech-Priest Rune sat comfortably in the chairs answering the questions of Halos Chief Engineer, a human named Jonas Fern who was a big, tough individual, his muscles were lean saying that they were made through use instead of show and he was from Correlia adding that classic attitude that people like _Han Solo_ and _Wedge Antilles_ made famous.

His shuttle glided through an opening that an old _Dreadnought Cruiser _could fit through and landed silently in its landing zone, the ramp descended and Rune led the way, Halos and Fern followed with a squad of eight stormtroopers in tow, the Admiral had chosen not to use an Alliance Honour Guard unit because each squad had at least one alien member, that person would be put at serious risk because of the Imperium's distrust of non-humans.

The Alliance entourage followed Rune to a group of Imperium officers, at the lead was a man dressed in the armour of the _Adeptus Mechanicus _with a power sword sheathed, his face had eye implants and several cables were attached to his neck that ran down into his armour.

"Admiral Halos, I am _Magi Durin _of the _Adeptus Mechanicus, _if you will follow me"

Halos and his entire entourage followed the Magi through the ship and finally entered a briefing room that was three times the size of the one on the _Vigilance._

As everyone took their seats Durin turned to Rune "Is the technology acceptable Tech-Priest?"

"It is acceptable Magi" Rune replied evenly.

"Very good" Durin said before turning to Halos "Admiral I and my ship have been assigned as you and your people's protector and I hope that although we have had a bad beginning that we can start afresh"

"I hope so too Magi" Halos said "And I think there is much that we can learn from each other"

"Agreed" Durin said "Let us begin this new friendship with this" the Magi took out a datachip and inserted it into the table, a holographic image appeared of an _Imperial _Star Destroyer "This is an upgraded version of one of your warships, the front turbolaser batteries have been replaced by lance batteries, we have doubled its small armaments with ten extra plasma cannons and we have also added an extra layer of adamantium to make it more durable to return fire…with your permission we can test this design on one of your ships"

"I will submit the request to my captains" Halos replied not letting the surprise show in his voice.

------

"I have read your report thoroughly Tech-Priest" The Magi said as he settled into his chair "But from your point of view why would the Alliance technology be so useful to us?"

"Well first of is their method of faster than light travel" Rune began "As you know it would take our ships years to get from one side of the galaxy to the other but with the Alliances hyperdrive it would take simply weeks"

That gained the Magi's attention "Are you serious?"

"Very" Rune replied "It is considerably safer than warp travel because the warp doesn't have much influence, although it is still a danger it has greatly decreased. It is also much more precise, with warp travel we can only go as far as the outskirts of a system and have to go the rest by impulse but with hyperdrive we can enter the system to just outside of the gravity well of a planet"

The Magi remained silent; with this new method Imperium fleets could get to besieged worlds quickly and precisely, and in greater numbers, Crusade fleets could be gathered in weeks instead of years and strike at the enemy without much warning.

"Magi this technology could be the Imperiums salvation" Rune exclaimed passionately "Their faster than light travel, their galaxy-wide communications systems among other things would give us the edge against our enemies!"

Magi Durin sighed before responding "I have received word from Mars, the Inquisition is sending one of its agents to investigate the Alliances vessels"

"They'll never agree to it" Rune said, his enthusiasm crushed "After their last run in with an Inquisitor"

"Indeed"

"Besides with the data we have sent them they should be satisfied with our results"

"If there is one thing I have learned about the Inquisition in my long life it's that they are never satisfied with reports until one of their own investigates…my only hope is that they don't send a Purist"

"Are you going to inform the Alliance?" Rune asked.

"Of course" the Magi said "They would need to prepare for the Inquisitors arrival, a warning will also have to be sent to their Psyker…I have reliable intelligence that this Inquisitor was once a member of the _Witch Hunters_"

------

A week later a small taskforce of six Star Destroyers and one _Retribution_ Battleship moved out to the fringes of the Helios system, once they were out of range of the furthest line of orbital defence platforms the _Emperors Fire _broke away from the Alliance fleet and set up a position ahead of them.

"We are now going to begin the weapons trials" Durin announced "What we are going to do is have your craft open fire on us and see how it affects our shields, we will do the same to your ships"

"I understand Magi" Halos replied before turning to Florn "Get me contact with Severi"

A few moments later the image of Severi appeared on the holo-screen, the female Chiss wore her grey Captains uniform with her long raven black hair done up in a bun "Are you ready Captain?"

"We are ready Admiral" Severi said.

"Very well Captain, fire a concentrated five second barrage on the _Emperors Fire_"

The _Spirit of Ithor _moved forward from the fleet and opened fire with her front weapon batteries, long lances of green and red turbolaser fire smashed into the shields of the _Emperors Fire _causing them to ripple, as ordered the barrage continued for five seconds before the Star Destroyer ceased.

"How was that Magi?" Halos asked.

"Very informative Admiral" Magi Durin replied "Your weapons managed to shave 15 off our shields, we now know that our lance batteries are more powerful than your turbolaser batteries but yours have better range and accuracy"

"I think it's your turn" Halos replied before turning to Severi "Shields up Severi"

The frontal batteries of the _Emperors Fire _opened up spewing long, thick lances of energy towards the _Spirit_, the entire ship seemed to shake as the powerful beams of light smashed into the shields, the barrage lasted for five seconds before it ceased.

"Severi, status" Halos ordered but no answer came "Captain Severi, status!"

The holo-screen flickered back to life showing the Chiss Captain, a small trickle of blood flowed from the side of her head, her hair burst from its bun and now hung messily around her head "Sorry sir, that blast knocked the wind out of us…our shields are down to 20, front weapon systems have shorted out, the Impulse engines are damaged and the hull plating has been badly scorched, but she's holding"

"Back away Captain, get behind our line" Halos ordered before the Magi's image reappeared "I think you overdid it Magi, I thought you said you were only using your front batteries"

"We were captain" Durin informed dryly.

"Well we didn't get hit by anything like that when we fought the Chaos fleet at Magos"

"You took them by surprise Admiral" Durin pointed out "Their weapons and shields were most likely depleted when you arrived…if you had fought them head on you might have been wiped out"

------

It was another week before the Adeptus Mechanicus and Alliance forces meet outside the system again, Halos glanced out at the _Vengeance _and the _Spirit of Ithor_, both ships had been heavily modified by the Mechanicus and were almost unrecognisable, their hulls were now a dark grey instead of white, the frontal Turbolaser batteries had been removed and replaced by Lance batteries while the back had been relocated and raised to the new adamantium armoured layer, ten new plasma cannons had been added among the laser and ion cannons already present. The _Emperors Fire _had also been modified, its warp drive had been replaced by a hyperdrive engine, tractor beams had been installed at the front of the ship along with proton torpedo tubes.

This was the first test of the _Emperors Fires _hyperdrive, it was to be accompanied by the modified Star Destroyers _Vengeance, Spirit of Ithor _and _Vigilance_ who were also going to test their newly modified shielding against the small presence that the warp had on hyperspace.

"We are going to the _Scorpios System_ Admiral" Durin informed "It is a small colony world about twelve light-years from here, a perfect place to test new technologies"

Halos and Sabbath exchanged looks, he had not seen the Jedi Master in almost two weeks, stuck in his quarters deep in meditation as Jedi are famous for doing.

"Then let the test begin" Durin said and the ships vanished into hyperspace.

------

A few hours later the seven warships reappeared from hyperspace into the _Scorpios System_, a fairly average Star System consisting of a young sun and five planets, only one was capable of supporting life, called _Scorpios_ it was a planet covered by mountains and plains, its settlements were mostly agricultural farms with a small capital city called _Scorpios City_, the entire planets population was two million people, of that two thirds of them lived in the city.

In orbit around the planet was a space station, bristling with weapon emplacements and docked ships, scattered around the planet were defensive platforms, each one covered with Lance batteries, plasma missile launchers and dozens of smaller anti-fighter laser cannons.

The battleship shuddered slightly as it returned to real space and the Magi turned to his second in command "That was the most comfortable journey I've ever been on, what's the status of the hyperdrive?"

"Conduits B and E have overheated sir but besides that it is working perfectly"

"Our position?"

"Exactly were we wanted to be Magi"

The Magi managed a rare smile "I suppose that means that the test has been a success…contact Admiral Halos"

Halos' image appeared in front of the Magi "Admiral the test has been a complete success however we will need to dock with the systems space station and make modifications to a few of the hyperdrives systems"

"Understood Magi" Halos replied "We will settle in and wait for you"

------

From the outer reaches of the system a fleet of nightmarish warships hovered silently, their hulls coloured pitch black with blade and spine like protrusions sticking out, along each of the warships hulls were thousands of trophies that ranged from pieces of enemy vessels and vehicles to body parts of slain foes.

Within the lead ship it was dark, the flickering lights of consoles and systems the only source of light within the confines of the bridge. Sitting on the command chair was the shadowed form of a nightmarish humanoid, his eyes shining a gleaming blood red in the low light, he raised a pale hand, pointing towards the system and through a venomous smile hissed these words "Begin"

The fleet of warships surged forward, their forms vanishing as they began to move, they soared past the perimeter defences of the human world without the defenders being aware of it, the man gave a low hiss before slowly rising from his command chair, his fleet was right beside the space station now, the small defence force of major warships were all docked along with a _Retribution _Battleship, this was the perfect time.

"Deactivate the _Shadow Fields _and open fire!"

In perfect unison his warships decloaked and opened fire, long lances of dark red light collided with the unknowing space station causing great explosions and blowing off bulkheads, several warships vanished in the blooms of fire as others, unmanned, their docking hooks snapping under the pressure and heat began drifting away, only the battleship survived the initial bombardment.

"Your orders _Archon Deathstrike_?" his second hissed.

The Archon sneered at the planet, now practically undefended lay out in front of them "Launch landing craft…I want slaves for our torture chambers!"

His second smiled, the flash of an explosion showing a man with pale skin, covered in blue veins, his smile was that of needle sharp teeth "Yes Archon"

------

The sudden blaring of alarms awoke Gabriel from his sleep, he jumped out of his bed, fully dressed in his Jedi robes and grabbing his lightsabre hilt ran along the corridors of the _Vigilance, _all around him crew and soldiers ran to their battle stations preparing for the worst, as he entered the turbo-lift that transported him to the bridge.

Before the lift reached the bridge he raised his hood and wrapped his robes around himself, he reached out into the force and immediately withdrew contact, something was out there, something that's evil and hunger for pain and death rivalled that of anything he had ever encountered.

He entered the bridge and walked quickly towards the ramp were Halos and Florn were "What is wrong? I felt a great disturbance"

"An unknown fleet of warships appeared out of nowhere and attacked the space station, all but the _Emperors Fire _has been destroyed and she may not last much longer"

As Gabriel came up beside them he saw three small Frigate sized warships speed past them towards the area of the battle, a Destroyer sized ship followed behind them.

"All hands battle stations" Halos yelled "Power up the weapon emplacements, raise the shields, full impulse speed!!!"

**Well what do you think of that, in the next chapter the battle will begin, the Alliance and Mechanicus will be fighting for their survival as the Dark Eldar launch their raid on the planet and finally the Jedi will be placed into a major roll, anything you find wrong with it let me know…until then May the Force Guide You and review, review...review!**


	8. Flames of War: Part I

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Flames of War**_

_**Part 1**_

Scorpios City wasn't an easy place to get to, all around the settlement was a natural barrier of mountains and cliffs that would take months to scale, the only real way through to the city was a manmade passageway that reached from one side of the canyon to another, at the end of this corridor was a ridge and at the top of this ridge stood the tall Imperial outpost, known as the watchtower.

Colonel Marcus Varne watched from just outside as his two companies of Imperial Guardsmen placed machine gun emplacements and Lascannons on the balconies and outside walkways, sandbag walls were hastily being put up around the tower to act as a makeshift wall.

The supernatural hum of engines was enough to send his men running to their posts, the first company of a hundred men got behind the sandbag wall training their weapons on the passageway while the other company within the tower loaded their heavy machine guns and anti-vehicle weapons. The Eldar could only come through here, if they tried an air assault the cities anti-air guns would tear them apart.

The sky had become dark, grey clouds now covered the orange sun threatening to unleash a rainstorm at any moment.

Varne took out a set of binoculars and scanned the corridor, a dozen black forms of hover vehicles zoomed across the ground, most were Jetbikes but the Colonel saw a couple of troop transports among them.

"Show no mercy!" Marcus shouted to his troops "For the enemy will give you none, your families, wives, husbands, children, mothers and fathers will be butchered if we don't stop them here" Marcus immediately thought of his wife and daughter as he spoke "May the Emperor guide your rifles and raise your spirits!!!"

"May the emperor guide our rifles and raise our spirits!!!" his soldiers shouted in unison.

"Fire!"

A withering barrage of bullets, laserfire and plasma meet the Eldar Jetbikes as the first wave flew forward, from the tower an impressive display of machine gun and laserfire meet the invaders but the Dark Eldar were to fast, their vehicles zipping around the deadly barrage and returning fire with their own weapons, men from the tower were hit and fell to their deaths while the men and women from behind the sandbag wall were thrown backwards from splinter hits.

A few Eldar Jetbikes were hit and exploded before the Dark Eldar were on them, the Eldar warriors jumped out of the transports with swords, daggers and lances drawn slicing into his soldiers and cutting them to shreds.

Marcus drew his power sword and ran it through a female Eldar, bright red blood spilled onto his sword arm before he wrenched it free and drawing his bolt pistol put three rounds into another Eldar charging towards him, Las and splinter fire shrieked past his head as the surviving Imperial Guard opened fire from the steps of the watchtower, the sandbag walls had been overrun and from that direction he heard the bloodcurdling screams of wounded guardsmen as the Dark Eldar dragged them away.

He riddled another Eldar with rounds from his bolt pistol before the gun clicked empty, he threw it to the ground and holding his sword with both hands took off the head of another warrior, he didn't notice the Haemonculus behind him until a power sword blade stabbed him in the back and came out of his chest, the Colonel fell, dead before he hit the ground.

The Haemonculus hissed with pleasure as he pulled his blade out of the dead human before turning to the tower, as the last gun emplacement went silent he spoke through his helmet comm. "The tower has been taken my lord, the main force may enter"

Before he moved on the Haemonculus saw the chain of a necklace around the Colonels neck, he pulled it free and finding a locket opened it, he saw the dead human with a female and a child, the Dark Eldar made a special note to look out for them when he entered the city, the human would pay for the death of his kin with his families blood, as he walked away the rain began to fall soaking into the ground and tingeing the land red with the blood of the fallen.

------

"Status report" Magi Durin said as he stumbled to his feet.

"Sir we're trapped in the dock, all the entrances have collapsed but the ships shields saved her from any damage!"

The Magi sat in his command chair and hit several runes in its right arm, several holographic images appeared around him showing that all the main entrances were blocked by rubble, the ceiling had collapsed in several places but thankfully the tech was right, the shields vaporised any debris that was going to fall on the _Emperors Fire_, dead bodies of people, their faces blue from lack of oxygen floated lifelessly in the space surrounding the battleship, the Magi gripped the arm of his command chair so hard that he drew blood from his hand, a quarter of his crew were out there among the dead.

"Full power to the forward guns" he said hoarsely "Prepare to make an exit, all personnel to battle stations, be ready to encounter heavy resistance once we're out!"

"But Magi" one of his officers said "The space station-"

"Is nothing but a wreck" the Magi said "No ones alive in here but us"

The front lance batteries of the great battleship opened fire smashing into the debris strewn exit quickly carving a way out, the vacuum of space swept everything from vehicles to the dead into space. The _Fire _powered up her great engines and smashed through the created opening into open space.

------

Admiral Halos winced as another Imperium frigate flashed out of existence, its adamantium hull pulverised by concentrated dark lance fire, the small force that he had managed to assemble around him was getting hammered by these Eldar warships who were using their superior speed and numbers to wear down the Alliance and Imperium ships.

All around the duelling warships Alliance and Imperium starfighter squadrons were skirmishing with sleek Eldar fighters and thankfully holding their own, all of his pilots had engaged the Yuuzhan Vong on several occasions and survived which in Halos opinion put each of them in line for a medal.

A trio of Eldar fighters strafed his bridge shields and broke away with six X-Wings in pursuit, firing frantically with their laser cannons, Halos blinked to see from the flash of splinter cannons against shielding before pointing to the lead Eldar capital ship, a _Torture-class _Cruiser.

"Have all lance and turbolaser batteries target that ship and fire!" he shouted.

The cruiser banked sharply to the left as a storm of energy beams streamed towards it, dodging the display of firepower but came into sight of the weapon batteries of the _Vengeance_, Rosso jumped at the chance and fired, within moments the _Torture _cruiser turned into a bloom of fire and wreckage.

The bridge crew cheered and Halos grinned before turning to Gabriel, the Jedi master was floating a couple of feet of the deck using battle meditation to coordinate the fleet against the Eldar's dark kin.

"Master Sabbath, can you free up a couple of bombers to take pot shots at their flagship?" Halos asked pointing towards the 3km long _Darkness-class _Battleship.

The Jedi master grinned "Let me see what we can muster"

Before long a group of eight K-Wing bombers soared towards the flagship, dodging dark lance and splinter fire left and right before unleashing a volley of proton bombs, the red balls of light collided with the Eldar vessel with several magnificent flashes that left gapping holes in its lightly armoured hull, the bombers circled like hawks before peppering the wound with laserfire and breaking off as a swarm of Eldar fighters moved to intercept, their splinter cannons breaking through the shields of the rear bomber tearing it and its two pilots apart. Halos saw Gabriel's face furrow in slight pain. The one real down side to battle meditation was that he had to shoulder the burden of those under his coordination who died.

"Have the forward lance batteries target their flagship and fire!"

The newly installed lance batteries of the _Vigilance _opened up on the retreating battleship riddling its damaged side with energy, an Imperium destroyer added its firepower to the Star Destroyers and before long the battleship was a burning wreck.

The flashes of hundreds of weapon batteries going off turned Halos attention from the battle, the Admiral grinned when he saw the 12km long _Emperors Fire_ firing its impressive arsenal of lance batteries and newly installed long range turbolaser emplacements at the nearest Eldar warship, the battle had just swung in their favour.

------

Archon Deathstrike scanned the assortment of buildings that made up the capital city of this wretched planet, in the streets around the structures were hundreds of PDF soldiers and a dozen vehicles including _Chimera Fire Tanks_ and _Lemon Russ Tanks. _He smiled venomously, let the pathetic defenders of this settlement bring out their tanks and troops, the results would be the same, his men would slice through them like a knife through butter.

"Bring me the slave" he growled to his guard, the Haemonculus grinned before walking to the troop transport. He returned a few moments later with an Eldar woman, her Ulthwe robes torn and tattered, her pale skin covered in bruises, shallow cuts and dried blood, her long white hair was dyed red by dried blood and her purple eyes resembled her frame, broken and defeated.

"Well it would seem that we will have more potential slaves to join you" Deathstrike sneered with a sickening smile "Ishta Taldeer"

"Why don't you just kill me…and get it…over with" Ishta said weakly, trying desperately to draw in a breath of air.

"All in good time" Deathstrike said "But I have one last use for you before I throw you to the warp"

He walked over to her and grabbing her chin roughly made her look up at him, he had thoroughly enjoyed tearing the Ulthwe taskforce apart a few weeks before and had been more pleased when one of the slaves was the daughter of the one he hated the most, the one who died before he could have his revenge.

"Vengeance for what your mother did to me a Deldrane" he whispered into her ear making the young warlock shudder ever so slightly "Your mother routed my fleet and made me look like a fool all to save a small insignificant human colony"

Taldeer's eyes hardened "That planet had an Adepta Sororitas training camp…if you had destroyed that then the humans…would have blamed us and we would have lost thousands in their vengeance" the warlock managed a tight smile of resistance "Your fleets loss was the better outcome"

Deathstrike snarled and backhanded the warlock sending her careening into the mud, the rain was still coming down heavily.

"I will use you as bait for the Jedi" Deathstrike said with a smile "From the data I have read from your wrecked ships they are fine warriors, protectors of the defenceless and all that, and I would like his…lightsabre for my collection"

"What makes you think…he'll be here" Taldeer managed.

"Because my dear his fleet is right above us" the Archon replied simply "They have just routed my fleet and are launching their own ground forces, quite frankly I find it hard to believe that the xenophobic humans would join forces with such an organisation" he then smiled, he still had a few ships cloaked who could get him and his catch out of the system.

"Take her away" he ordered, as the Haemonculus dragged the warlock away he drew his punisher blade "Begin the attack"

**I am so pleased with this chapter but what do you think? Reviews please, the next chapter sees the concluding part of the war on Scorpios. Will the Eldar escape or will the Alliance/Imperium coalition stop them.**

**Question - Would the Dark Eldar attack their Craftworld kin?**


	9. Flames of War: Part II

_**Chapter 8**_

_**Flames of War**_

_**Part II**_

_"An impressive display commander Sabbath"_

**Colonel Drake commenting on the AT-AT walkers**

------

"Scene fits the mood" one of the stormtroopers said solemnly indicating the heavy rain that was battering the hull of their transport, an old LAAT gunship, it was one of five advanced gunships that was sent to clear out the Dark Eldar landing zone and to prepare for the main forces landing.

"That it does trooper" Gabriel agreed as he checked the power pack of his blaster pistol before holstering the sidearm.

As Gabriel looked out the cockpit viewport he saw turbolaser fire break the dark grey clouds, leaving gaps of clear sky in their wake, the _Vigilance _was doing what she was designed to do, orbital bombardment, its target the enemy LZ. They had just made topside and were flying through the only passageway through the mountains, it wasn't long before he saw the enemy stronghold, what was once a tower shaped building overlooking the corridor but was now blasted rubble by turbolaser fire.

As the gunships swooped over the site the dings of splinter fire on the belly of the hull made it clear that there were enemy survivors down there, the ships flew round for another pass and this time pummelled the ground with laserfire from their side gun turrets, concussion missiles and laser cannons. The LAAT's flew around once more before settling down on the cratered ground and unloading their cargo of Stormtroopers, GA riflemen, YVH Battledroids and a Jedi.

The soldiers and droids took up defensive positions as the gunships hovered away and immediately came under fire as dozens of Dark Eldar warriors charged them, they were a terrifying site, their slender bodies encased in armour that was coloured with shades of dark purple and black, armed with splinter weapons and equally deadly looking blades.

The tall, Yuuzhan Vong shaped Battledroids saw them first and sprayed them with laserfire from their blaster arms, the Stormtroopers and GA soldiers added their blasterfire to that of their droid counterparts leaving several gaping holes in the first wave of Dark Eldar before the second wave fell upon them cutting, hacking and slicing.

Gabriel telekinetically shoved his lightsabre into his hand and activating it jumped into the fight, the emerald blade weaving and slicing. He cut through the abdomen of a Dark Eldar warrior and spinning on his heel sliced the head of another, he lifted his hand and unleashed a force push throwing a couple of them of a wounded soldier and sending them hitting of a ruined wall at breakneck speed, their limp forms fell to the ground. It was a few more minutes of bloody fighting before the last Dark Eldar warrior was killed.

Deactivating his lightsabre Gabriel assessed the damage to his advanced guard, half of his soldiers were lying dead, dying or wounded on the ground with the sparking wrecks of four Battledroids among them, the wounded screamed in agony from the venom received from direct splinter hits and the Eldar's poison covered blades.

Hums sounded the arrival of the second wave of five gunships, vehicle transports and a 300m long Imperium troop transport, once landed they unleashed their compliments of Alliance troops, Imperium Skitarii troopers and three 22m tall AT-AT walkers.

As the walkers began to march out of the main transport Skitarii colonel Bastell Drake, who like his Magi and many other officers of the Adeptus Mechanicus had mechanical implants on his face and body walked up towards the Jedi master, all around him medics began tending to the wounded.

"An impressive display Commander Sabbath" Colonel Drake said as he watched the towering walkers begin their march.

"You haven't seen anything yet colonel" Gabriel replied, the Jedi then crouched beside the nearest wounded person, a Zeltron with a nasty slice wound on her shoulder, his Jedi healing techniques were needed here even if the Imperium finds out he's a Psyker, he had to call upon the force to calm her and stop her from squirming as he assessed the wound, he turned his head to the colonel who was watching with awe as the wound slowly started to close "Before we move out we have wounded to tend…call back the gunships and tell the Star Destroyers to prepare their medbays"

------

Captain Terse of the PDF stood among his men waiting for the Dark Eldar to show, he had heard from garbled reports that they had broken into the city, many of the outskirts were overrun and he ordered communications ceased because all they could hear was the screams of tortured prisoners and the laughs of the Eldar.

The first signs of the enemy's arrival were their supernatural war cries that made him tremble; Terse revved up his chainsword and waited for them. The Dark Eldar came but not by the street, they jumped in from the rooftops falling upon his militia who fired their lasguns taking down a few before they were on them cutting and slicing, his untrained troopers didn't stand a chance.

One of his honour guard was cut down by a power sword spraying the mans blood over Terse, wiping the blood from his eyes he rammed his activated chainsword into the Eldar's chest spraying more blood and bone fragments on him, he saw three Eldar drop onto the Chimera accompanying his unit and cutting through an opening threw a grenade into the tank before jumping off, the inside exploded with a flash.

The PDF captain fired several shots from his laspistol before his body was riddled by splinter rounds killing him.

From the rooftops Archon Deathstrike smiled venomously at the death and destruction that was taking place around him, the screams of captured humans was like a well played symphony to his ears. His Haemonculus guard couldn't help himself and started torturing the prisoners including the Ulthwe warlock, his helmet comm. Beeped and the Archon tore his gaze from the burning city to answer "What do you want?"

"Archon our landing zone has been taken, scanners report a force of troops and vehicles are heading for this settlement"

"Send a force to meet them and test their capability" the Archon said while smiled viciously "The rest of your force will continue as planned, destroy the contingents of Imperial Guard and PDF, and round up slaves"

------

Warrior Dralkenne gunned the engines of his Jetbike and lead his squad out of the ruined outskirts of the city back to where the watchtower once stood. He had gotten the message from his superior about an enemy force moving to try and reinforce the defenders and had been ordered to weaken their numbers.

The ruins of the watchtower came into view now and Dralkenne grinned venomously, the enemy would fall to his splinter cannons today.

His smile vanished from his face as he saw the force moving towards the city, three massive four legged machines that stood at least 22m tall were trudging through the mud filled valley ground towards the city, around the massive walkers were nine smaller, two legged walkers that reminded him of Imperium sentinels and above them was a group of fifteen troop gunships.

Leading his squad he circled around and attacked the side of one of the large walkers, blasting it with his splinter cannons, his squad mates followed suit and to their disappointment found that their splinter barrage bounced harmlessly of the armoured plating.

As his squad circled around for another pass they came into view of the front walkers box-shaped head, it traced them and fired long beams of red energy from cannons on the sides of its head.

Two of his kin were caught by the blast and vaporised in a barrage of red light, gritting his teeth Dralkenne broke his jetbike into a sharp climb up towards the gunships, if these main walkers couldn't be stopped then the escort walkers and gunships had to be destroyed, one of the small sentinel-shaped walkers lost a leg to concentrated splinter fire and exploded when it's head hit the ground.

He aimed for the lead gunship and fired, the small shards of white light collided with the cockpit and sheared through the view window and the pilots, the gunship started into an out-of-control spin towards the surface, the ship smashed into the surface with a blinding flash.

Drelkenne laughed as the downed ship exploded but in his celebration he didn't notice the second gunship unleashing a barrage of laserfire from its side ball turrets, one of the jets of laserfire sliced through the left wing of his bike sending it into an out-of-control spin, throwing components in all directions as it fell. The last thing the warrior saw was the ground coming up fast.

------

Lieutenant Mathew 'Blank' Jones heard the dings of splinter fire hit the side of the overturned car he was hiding behind, he peeped out the side of the vehicle and shouldering his lasgun fired several rounds before taking cover again.

He and his unit of PDF were one of the last surviving defenders on the outskirts of the city, behind them was a road leading to the watchtower, in front of him was the winding, wreckage strewn streets leading towards the innards of the city, which were a maelstrom with Dark Eldar fighting the last units of Imperial Guardsmen and PDF soldiers.

The sudden sound of concentrated splinter fire and war cries made the Lieutenant shiver, the Commissar had ordered another charge of the dwindling Imperial Guard, a few dozen soldiers charged past his men's location and were gunned down by the Eldar sharpshooters. Jones grimaced; at this rate that madman was going to kill them all.

He stopped dead when he heard the mechanical winding of joints and the sounds of large feet hitting the ground just outside of the city, he turned and squinted through the heavy rain to see large walkers march towards their location. The mechanical hum and overhead shadows turned his attention to the skies were large winged ships glided overhead and bombarded the Dark Eldar line with laserfire, he didn't care who these people were, he cheered and lead his squad in a charge, they would win here or die trying.

------

The doors opened and Gabriel looked out over the city, several buildings were burning, many more were ruined structures with walls and floors blasted apart.

"Commander" Gabriel turned to Colonel Drake who was now wearing a jump pack and checking the power pack of his lasgun "Shouldn't you take a jump pack?"

The Jedi master smiled, shook his head and dived out of the gunship, he straightened himself out for several seconds, somersaulted and sent a force push to the ground cushioning his fall as he landed. The Dark Eldar in front of him didn't see him until he activated his lightsabre, the slender humanoids swung around only to be cut down by several quick strokes from his emerald blade.

A deadly barrage of blasters and lasgun fire from the sky signalled the arrival of dozens of soldiers using Jump packs to glide to the ground right on top of the entrenched Dark Eldar, cutting most of them down with laserfire before they saw the Alliance soldiers and Skitarii above them. The AT-AT walkers were now entering the city and the Imperium forces were charging under their cover fire.

Gabriel took a deep breath, gathered the force around him and jumped up to the roof of a small building, an Eldar sharpshooter fired his splinter rifle at him but the Jedi deflected the splinter fire and in a downward stroke cut the warrior from the head to the groin, slicing him neatly in half.

Gabriel didn't break his stride, running across the rooftop and jumping to the next building and then the next, three Alliance soldiers and two Skitarii jumped in behind him and used the roof he had just cleared as a sniping position, he saw that one of the Imperium soldiers was Drake, the colonel glanced in Gabriel's direction, probably wondering how he survived the fall.

As he came closer to the centre of the city he was hit by a shockwave of pain through the force and nearly stumbled as he landed on a rooftop. He almost instinctively followed the trail to its source, a four storey high building and force-jumping towards the structure he straightened out into a dive and crashed feet first through one of the windows, landing in a crouch Gabriel activated his lightsabre to illuminate the darkness.

His eyes widened at what he saw, people lay bound on the ground, fresh cuts covering their bodies. Gabriel moved to the closest person, the man was lying on his belly, gulping Gabriel turned him over, lifeless eyes starred up at him and shaking his head the Jedi placed his hand over the mans face closing his eyes.

He then stretched out his force-awareness to overlap the entire building, he sensed five people still alive, two were humans, another four had the dark and twisted feeling of Dark Eldar and the last felt somehow familiar, felt like an Eldar as well.

He ran up the stairwell and force-pushed through an emergency exit, he saw three Dark Eldar warriors, two were standing over the body of a young woman, holding blood covered blades while the other was stalking a small girl who was standing in a corner, trembling in fear.

Gabriel ran through the door catching the Eldar by surprise, he used the force to quicken his pace and swinging his lightsabre he decapitated one of the warriors and holding out his free hand to the other threw him through a window with a force-push, convinced those two were taken care of he turned to the Haemonculus who had turned away from the girl to face him, he smiled showing that his teeth were stained crimson red before raising his blood covered blade, Gabriel in turn raised his lightsabre into a defensive Soresu stance.

The two charged each other and lightsabre meet power sword for the first time, breaking off the Haemonculus spun trying to slice through Gabriel's sword arm but the Jedi proved just as quick and side-stepped the attack, the two traded strikes for a while, just missing each other by millimetres, the Eldar began to look impatient and dived forward, aiming the blade for Gabriel's chest, the Jedi master calmly side-stepped him and carved his lightsabre through the monsters abdomen, the Eldar collapsed with a scream, his own blood joining that of his victims on the floor.

Deactivating his lightsabre Gabriel walked to the fallen woman's body and checking her pulse shook his head, she was too far gone. He glanced over to the girl, she was sitting in a corner, shivering, her head resting on her knees, her green eyes were bristling with tears as she glanced pleadingly at him.

He clipped his lightsabre to his belt and walked over to her, she shied away further into the corner, trying to make herself small.

"It's alright" Gabriel said softly as he held out his hand "You're safe now"

"Really" said a hissing voice, the girl shied away again as Gabriel turned around to see the last Dark Eldar, his face reminded him of the Eldar he had meet a few weeks ago but his skin was paler, veins throbbed at his head and blood was dripping from his mouth, he held a pale, bloodied Eldar woman in front of him, holding a long bladed sword to her throat.

"Drop your weapon" the Eldar Archon sneered, placing the blade closer to his hostage's throat, drawing blood. Gabriel finally recognised her, that Eldar warlock from a few weeks ago, he didn't notice right away because she always wore her helmet when she was on the _Vigilance._

Gabriel unclipped his lightsabre and dropped it to the ground but he also telekinetically lifted a chair behind the Archon, the Dark Eldar sneered as the lightsabre hit the floor.

"Fool" he said "You'll be next"

As he was about to slit her throat Gabriel tossed the chair, it smashed into the Archon's back making him fall forward, he screeched more in surprise than in pain, Ishta took the chance and dropped to the ground, lashing out with her left leg and kicking the Archon in the stomach, he flew backwards through the busted door.

The Jedi master threw the fallen lightsabre into his hand using the force and activating it, Ishta dived for a splinter rifle and levelled the weapon at the door but the Archon was gone, growling she spun to face Gabriel, splinter rifle shouldered as Gabriel drew his blaster pistol with unnatural speed and aimed it at the exact moment.

"Well what's your plan now?" she asked tiredly "Hand me over to the Imperium and let them kill me, or would you like that pleasure yourself"

"Actually I was planning to smuggle you up to the _Vigilance _and offer you sanctuary" Gabriel replied after a brief pause as he holstered his pistol and deactivated his lightsabre "Or you could shoot me and take up your grievances with the Imperial Guard"

She sighed and nodding her head in defeat dropped the weapon, Gabriel nodded in return and turned to the child, still hiding in the corner, he walked over to her and held out his hand "It's going to be alright" he said softly, she lingered for a moment before she ran up to him and burying her head into his shoulder started to cry, the Jedi master hugged her gently letting her cry on his shoulder before picking up his comlink and thumbing it on "Sabbath here, I need an Alliance gunship to the following coordinates"

"This is _Reaper one_. I'm on the way"

"Roger that...how's the view from up there?" Gabriel asked.

"It's pretty much a mopping up job now sir, the main bulk of the Dark Eldar has been beaten"

------

Archon Deathstrike screamed in anger, how could he have been so stupid, he could usually sense a human psyker a mile away, but this one was different, he didn't have the self-destructive aura of an Imperium Psyker, if anything this new breed seemed more calm and calculating, a rare quality in a human.

Checking the area around him was clear he contacted his cloaked battleship, _Burning Agony _and activated his webway teleporter, he would gather a new fleet, he would get his vengeance on Taldeer's child and that human psyker and he smiled as he imagined their agonised screams before he vanished in a flash of bright blue light.

**Phew, what a rush, anyway what ya think? In the next chapter the inquisitor arrives to inspect the Alliance, what will her reaction be to the different alien races and the Eldar Warlock onboard, and Gabriel make's a discovery about the girl he saved…tune in for the next chapter to find out. **

**Question – What do you think the Inquisitors reaction should be? And what do you think the Jedi master's discovery will be?**


	10. Surprises

_**Chapter 9**_

_**Surprises**_

_"Im not what you were expecting, am I admiral"_

**Inquisitor Robyn Vallace to Admiral Halos**

**------**

As soon as the battle was over Halos had his ships communicator send a message via Holonet to his ships on Helios telling them to inform the Imperium and to send a fleet, it was four days later before a sizeable force of Imperium warships and cargo ships lead by the refitted Star Destroyers arrived. One vessel within the Imperium fleet group that stood out was a heavily modified 14km long _Emperor-class _Battleship, painted a matte black instead of the Imperium grey

The last few days had been eventful to say the least as Admiral Halos had agreed to offer sanctuary to Warlock Taldeer, eventually Magi Durin had also agreed but only under the condition that the, in his words 'witch' stayed on Halos ships. Ishta to her credit stood up to the towering warrior saying that she wouldn't be caught dead on an Imperium ship anyway.

The Admiral was tired and almost desperately wanted to sleep for a few hours but the surprise arrival of the Inquisitor had forced him to stay awake for a few more hours.

As the sleek _Thunderhawk _hovered past the hanger shields and settled down on the hanger deck Halos stood just past the last Honour Guardsmen that were now standing at attention on either side of the landing ramp, the Admiral had read up on the Inquisition and quite frankly didn't like what he read, the invisible fist of the Emperor, the secret police who handled the internal threats of the Imperium as well as outside threats when called upon, their methods of protecting the Imperium were cruel and barbaric reminding Halos of the stories his father told him of Emperor Palpatine's assassins and secret police forces, the run in with the purist Inquisitor Delshon didn't really help his outlook on the Inquisition either.

As the ramp came down Halos already had the image of an old religious fanatic stalking down the metal decking in his mind, it was only when the agent of the Imperium came into view that he realised how wrong he was, the Inquisitor was a young woman and a beautiful one at that, her skin was pale with long black hair that reached down to her shoulder blades, her hazel eyes scanned the hanger with great interest and intelligence, almost as if she was scanning everything in the hanger, her clothing was mostly a long grey robe that showed her perfect physique nicely and her only weapon appeared to be a well crafted bolt pistol that was attached to her right thigh.

As she descended the ramp she glanced at the Honour Guard before continuing alone, she stopped in front of the Admiral and bowed respectfully, Halos slightly taken aback complied with a bow of his own.

"Welcome to the _Vigilance _ma'am" Halos greeted.

"Thank you Admiral" the woman replied warmly "I am Inquisitor _Robyn Vallace_ of the Inquisition" she introduced shaking the Admiral's hand "I have much to do and require some assistance"

"Of course we have all of the reports and schematics you will need ready for you" Halos replied before leading her to the briefing chambers.

"I'm not what you were expecting, am I Admiral?" Vallace asked as she sat down.

"Am I that see through?" Halos asked as he took a seat.

"Actually you hid your thoughts pretty well" the Inquisitor replied "I've just had a lot of practise reading people"

"Ah" Halos said "You wouldn't happen to be psychic would you?"

"Yes I am" she replied with a smile "Shall we get down to business"

"Of course"

"Admiral" Robyn started as she put down a datapad "I am one of the only Inquisitors that trust the reports sent by the Adeptus Mechanicus and so know for a fact that this technology is indeed safe to use, however there will be Inquisitors and other important individuals who will back away from this and call the findings heretical"

Halos shook his head in bemusement drawing the Inquisitors attention "Did I say something wrong?" she asked calmly.

"Not at all it's just that with the last Inquisitor that my fleet ran into and the information I have read about your order I thought you would be more…"

"Irrational"

"That'll do"

"Admiral let me say that there are some Inquisitors who are more open minded to new ideas than others" she said seriously "Some like Inquisitor Delshon are foolish and naïve to the fact that without new technologies the Imperium may fall within the next few hundred years"

"I thought that your fleets were constantly bringing new territories into the Imperium" Halos said.

"Indeed" Vallace agreed "However we are also losing territory to the Orks, the Necrons, the Tyranids and the forces of Chaos, the Dark Eldar raiders are also weakening our supply lines and main supply worlds with their raids and vanish into their webway before we can stop them, myself and many others believe that we need new technologies like your terraforming techniques to restore dead worlds, galaxy-wide holonet to keep the entire Imperium in contact and your hyperdrive to get to besieged worlds faster, your weapons although weaker have much better accuracy and range and as I have read you have built weapons that have the firepower to destroy planets…even entire star systems"

"The Death Star, Galaxy Gun and Sun Crusher were indeed impressive" Halos admitted "But they came at a terrible price, including the destruction of several of our most precious worlds"

"Admiral I am not asking you to hand over schematics for such destructive devices" she said reassuringly "All I ask is that you give me the first shot at any new technologies"

Halos felt slightly torn, he and Magi Durin had formed a sort of respect for each other over the last month. Unlike many of his fellow officers he seemed to be more…open minded and not nearly as xenophobic, this Inquisitor seemed nice enough but Halos had been around enough female officers within the Galactic Empire that looked sweet at first but were either a _Krayt Dragon in Bantha clothing_ or had a hidden agenda that would threaten the safety of those around her.

"You don't have to make the decision right away Admiral" Robyn reassured "I can see that your tired, get some rest but promise me you'll at least think about it"

"Thank you Inquisitor, I'll do just that" Halos said with a nod before rising and walking towards the door.

"Admiral?" the Inquisitor asked "May I ask what your first name is?"

"It's Joseph" Halos replied "Joseph Halos"

The Inquisitor nodded "Good night Joseph"

When he left she started to study the scrolls of information on the datapads, with each pad she began to get more and more interested, there was more here than just what she had mentioned, as she continued to read she found schematics for powerful planetary shield generators, gravity-well generators and an assortment of starfighter designs. As she picked up another one and turned it on she suddenly starred in disbelief at the information she was reading…now that was very interesting.

------

The halls of the _Emperors Fire _was as busy as ever, crowds of Tech-priests, Skitarii, Tech-Guard, Aides and messengers walked along the long, dimly lit corridors going about their day to day duties. Magi Durin walked down the corridor, scanning the scrolls of information from his personal datapad on the statistics of the battle. The Imperial Guard and PDF together suffered over a thousand casualties, civilian casualties were in the thousands with people dead, wounded or missing, and the city itself had suffered millions of credits in damage.

His own losses and those of the Alliance were not as serious, a hundred Skitarii and around sixty Alliance soldiers were reported dead or seriously injured, if it wasn't for the Alliance AT-AT walkers and their jump troops the city would have suffered much worse, he hoped that the Inquisitor had noticed that.

"Magi Durin"

The sound of his name made the Magi turn to see a Skitarii Colonel walk quickly towards him "Yes Colonel Drake"

The Colonel walked up to the Magi and made the shape of an aquila along his chest "Sir I have some information on a Commander in the Alliance that you may find shocking"

"You mean the psyker that is among them?" the Magi asked as he continued to walk, Drake keeping pace.

"No sir, it is that I don't think he is a psyker"

The Magi stopped and scanned the colonel before starting to walk again "Follow me"

They walked to an elevator and ascended to the officers floor were it was less crowded, the Magi walked down the long, well kept corridors before he came to his living quarters and entered a door, the two Tech-Guard stood rigidly at attention as he and the colonel passed, they entered an extravagant office, the walls were decorated with portraits as well as cabinets full of power weapons including swords, war hammers and battle axes to a collection of guns including various meltas, lasguns and bolters. At the end there was a large viewport that showed an incredible view of the area of space outside.

The Magi walked around an oak table and dropped the datapad onto it before sitting down, he measured the colonel who was standing rigidly at attention at the other side before speaking "Well what about their Psyker"

"Well sir the first thing I notice about him is that unlike other psykers he doesn't seem to be self destructive and he can do things that I have never in my a hundred years of service seen done before"

"Like"

"Well sir for one thing his powers are not just capable of destroying something but capable of healing as well" the colonel said "I saw him heal a serious shoulder injury on one of the xeno soldiers in the Alliance's army that in my estimation, if she was brought to a medic would have risked losing her arm"

"Go on"

"And during the counterattack he jumped out of the gunship…without a jump-pack" Drake replied "And when I saw him again he was unharmed and jumping nearly impossible distances from rooftop to rooftop"

"Well Colonel what is your philosophy on this?"

"I may be wrong sir but I believe he is a Daemon" Drake replied "No on can use the warp like that and come out untouched"

"Indeed" the Magi replied before rising from his chair "I will take a squad of Tech-Guard to the Alliance Star Destroyer and question Commander Sabbath on this immediately"

------

Gabriel whistled in surprise as he stepped into the medbay to see that the healers had finally managed to get Ishta into a Bacta tank, the cut wounds that she had suffered in the company of her dark kin had been more serious than originally thought. The Jedi Master stepped up to the head healer, a male human named Jerrick

"How did you persuade her?" Gabriel asked in astonishment.

"It wasn't easy Master Sabbath" the Coruscanti healer replied tiredly "It took a half hour of explaining what Bacta did before she finally conceded to take the treatment…she'll be in there for the full day"

"Good, I don't think I'm in the mood for arrogance" Gabriel replied with a chuckle before changing the subject "How's the girl doing?"

"She just woke up a few minutes ago but she still won't utter a word" the healer said sadly "Poor thing, I guess watching her mother get killed like that must have been too much for her to take"

"And being taken to a strange place like this with Stormtroopers and aliens running around must be just as terrifying as the Dark Eldar to her" Gabriel replied "Which bed is she in?"

Jerrick pointed to a bed a few metres down and Gabriel nodded before walking to her bedside, now that she was cleaned up the Jedi master noticed that she looked around thirteen years old with long strawberry blonde hair and grey eyes.

"Hey little one" Gabriel said softly "How are you feeling today?"

She didn't answer for a moment before turning to him and studied him, he looked into her eyes and saw to his surprise that they seemed much older than she was.

"I'm Gabriel" the Jedi introduced "What's your name?"

"Alana Varne" she replied after a brief pause "You couldn't do anything for my mom could you?"

"I'm sorry Alana" Gabriel replied meaningfully trying to search for the right words to say "I tried but your mother was to far gone"

The little girl trembled slightly, tears brimming her eyes "I know, what about my dad?"

"Who is your dad?" he asked "What does he work as?"

"He's a Colonel in the defence army" she replied "My dad's first name is Marcus"

Gabriel nodded and stood up "I'll see what I can do about finding your dad Alana" he said with a smile "You just get some rest okay"

The little girl nodded and lay down again, Gabriel sensed that she was asleep by the time he reached the entrance, his comlink beeped the moment he entered the corridor and sighing he unhooked it from his belt and thumbed it on "Yes"

"Gabriel" Halos said "Magi Durin is here and wishes to discuss something with you, he seemed urgent and a little unnerved…do you want me to send a squad of soldiers to accompany you?"

"No" Gabriel replied while massaging his temple, force this was going to be a long day "I will speak with him myself, I feel that bringing guards into it will make matters worse"

"What do you think it's about?"

"I think he finally knows that I'm not your average Psyker" he answered before thumbing the com off and started to walk down the corridor.

------

"You wished to see me Magi" Gabriel asked as he entered the briefing room, the Magi was not alone; as the Jedi was waved into the room he noticed two Tech-Guards, Tech-Priest Rune, Colonel Drake and a Psyker were also with him.

"Yes Commander Sabbath" the Magi replied evenly "Would you please take a seat"

Gabriel complied and took a seat across from them, he placed his hands on the table and waited for the questions.

"You're not a Psyker, are you?" Durin asked.

"Not in the way of your Psykers" Gabriel replied evenly "I'm not"

"Are you a Daemon" Drake said sharply before receiving harsh glances from the Magi and Tech-Priest.

"No" Gabriel said "I am not a Daemon either Colonel, I don't think a Dark Warp Daemon can heal as well as I did…my order is known as the Jedi Knights"

"I have read of the Jedi" the Magi said "An order of beings that are said to be force-sensitive, psychic, according to your history they have safeguarded the main empires of your galaxy for thousands of years"

"Yes they have" Gabriel replied "My order has been in existence for nearly twenty-five thousand years, they protected the Old Galactic Republic, later the New Republic and now the Galactic Alliance"

"Twenty-five thousand years?" the Tech-Priest echoed in disbelief.

"I have read all this" the Magi said.

"My lord" Drake asked in disbelief "You knew?"

"I speculated" the Magi said, silencing the colonel with a sharp look "I had no proof until now" he then turned to Gabriel who was patiently sitting in his chair "Tell me Jedi Sabbath…just what is this force?"

Gabriel thought about his answer, this was most likely a test by the Magi that could prove fatal if answered wrongly "The force is an energy field that encompasses the galaxy, it creates life and binds it together"

"Interesting" the Magi replied "And what would you see this force as?"

"Well Magi think of the force like the warp" Gabriel replied, carefully choosing his words "Now the warp encompasses this galaxy, the force does that too but it is no where near as dangerous as the warp…one would call the force as a completely different field of energy, what the warp was before the Eldar fall for example, force-sensitives…like myself are born with a gift to tap into this life force, like this" he then focused on a cup on the Magi's side of the table, it floated into the air and began to rotate causing the Tech-Guard to swing for their rifles.

"Put those away!" the Magi shouted at them before turning to the Jedi, he studied the man before him and sighed "From what I have read on the Jedi your order are honourable and only do what you consider to be best so I will ask this one question" the old soldier rose from the chair "Are you planning to cause harm to anything or anyone of the Imperium or do harm to the Emperor of Mankind?"

"No Magi" Gabriel replied, the Psyker studied him and Gabriel felt him probe his mind, the Jedi master lowered his shields to allow the man access, after a few moments the Psyker nodded "He tells the truth"

"Very well" Durin replied before turning to Gabriel "You may leave"

"Thank you Magi" Gabriel replied "While I'm here can I ask a favour?"

"What?" the Magi asked.

"The little girl I saved is called Alana Varne" Gabriel told him as he too rose from his chair "She told me her father was a Colonel called Marcus Varne in the Imperial Guard, could you do a search for him?"

"I will see what I can do"

"Thank you" Gabriel said before bowing and striding out of the briefing room.

"My lord" the Colonel said in outrage, his sanity leaving him for a brief moment "He should be thrown to the Inquisition!!!"

"Bite your tongue Drake" the Magi bellowed, silencing the colonel "Perhaps he should but he has protected the territories of the Imperium from not just the Dark Eldar but from the Great Enemy as well, he has earned my respect and trust!!!"

"Besides" Rune interjected "The Alliance would not like it if one of their main officers would suddenly disappear during a meeting with the Magi!"

------

Gabriel looked at the information on the datapad, Magi Durin had lived up to his word and within a few hours had sent him the whereabouts' of Alana's father, the Jedi master shook his head sadly as he entered the medbay, he walked up to her bed and sat down, she looked up at him and seeing his sadness her face fell "He's dead, isn't he"

The Jedi nodded "I am truly sorry Alana"

She pulled her knees to her chin and started to sniffle, Gabriel put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she rushed into his arms, crying softly, Gabriel cradled her trembling form "Shhhh…its alright…its alright…just let it all out"

And she did let it all out, she cried and cried until she finally fell asleep, Gabriel put her back to bed and sat on the chair beside her, it was then that he felt a minor disturbance in the force, a nudge in the back of his mind, he dispelled it at first but eventually the continual nudging forced him to expand his awareness and search for it's source, surprisingly the source seemed to be coming from Alana.

He placed a hand on her forehead and carefully entered her mind, searching for the area at the back of her brain, it was here that Jedi could tell whether a person was force-sensitive or not, usually when you nudge that part of the brain a small psychic push, a reflexive action mostly tells you whether…his mind went blank as he flew backwards, falling from his chair and skidding across the white floor startling everyone in the room including Alana, who awoke and jumping out of bed ran over to him.

"Gabriel, what happened?" she asked worriedly "are you alright?"

Gabriel summoned the force to dispel the feeling of pain in his back and the darkness in his vision, it was like being run over by an angry Krayt Dragon, no doubt about it Alana was force-sensitive and a powerful one…incredibly powerful, maybe as strong as the likes of Luke Skywalker or Kyp Durran.

"I think you'd better take a seat Alana" Gabriel said as he stood up, staggering slightly, she really hammered him "I have something to tell you"

Alana gave him an odd look before he sat her down and started to tell her about an energy field called the force.

**I don't know what to say, I just started righting and righting, what ya think? If you think the Adeptus was too soft then let me know. I' am unsure as whether to stay in this part of the story or add another chapter on the Yuuzhan Vong, what do you think?**


	11. The Yuuzhan Wormhole

_**Chapter 10**_

_**The Yuuzhan Wormhole**_

**The title for this sounds a little lame but work with me, I'm getting somewhere with this, and my apologies on this story sounding like a New Age, thank you ****_jlp511_****_ for putting my story on your C2. _Review Response: **

**_Bienvenido S. Canonizado_****_ – (Cracking of fingers…let us begin) I'm sorry to hear that there isn't much Warhammer in the Philippines so I'll try and fill it in, first the Space Marine chapters that defected (That I know of the top of my head) were the Word Bearers, World Eaters, Black Legion, Alpha Legion, Emperors Children, and half of the Dark Angels Chapter with around half the number of Imperial Guard now renamed Traitor Guard. The Space Marine legions still loyal are the Ultramarines, Blood Ravens, Raven Guard, Blood Angels, half the Dark Angels, Space Wolves and umm… Salamanders, their weapons are more powerful than the Imperial Guard with Bolters that are a sort of power rifle weapon that's rounds could leave massive holes in a person. A dreadnought is a dead Marine reanimated in a box-shaped metal walker with stubby bolter arm and deadly looking claw and finally my favourite Chapters from both sides would be in order the Blood Ravens, Raven Guard, Word Bearers and the Space Wolves…phew I think that's it…if anyone else knows any Marine chapters that I missed please…I beg of you tell ME!!!_**

**_angelus288 – I had a feeling I made the AT-AT walkers too small I'll make the change and I think in the last crusade the Despoiler managed to break a path to half the galaxy before he was defeated by the Cadians…I'm not sure about that last part and I've seen the maps of the galaxy, the three main Tyranid hivefleets, the sudden rise of the Necrons and the Tau must be weakening them at least slightly. _**

**_Ravenor – I don't think the Alliance would tolerate such a blood hungry and xenophobic Inquisitor and thanks for the ranks of their Psykers._**

**_Imperial soldier – I got the warp wrong…ah CRAP!!!_**

**_bookworm101 – I'll try not to disappoint especially with the Vong's little surprise._**

**_Long live Warhammer40k_****_ – Whoohoo a hundred reviews plus. _**

**_Maugen Ra_****_ – Not giving anything away on the Inquisitor's interesting find and sorry I did get the idea of the girl from Entilza but she is not a vessel for a powerful being and she is not a ten thousand year old in the form of a little girl._**

**_KarFoo – The website of my discussion is actually on this one, on the forums under Warhammer in a sub category called _**WH, WH40K, and Crossovers **_under once again_** Star Wars/Warhammer 40K.

**_melgar_****_ – hmm maybe._**

**_theclerk2_****_ – Sorry did kind of borrow the idea from Entilza but she isn't a vessel for a powerful being and she is not a ten thousand year old in the form of a little girl._**

**_grayangle_****_ – What I said to Theclerk2._**

**_Caedes.Leighton_****_ – One question…what or who are the Apex twins?_**

**_Nolife – Suck someone's soul out, don't you think that has the behavioural qualities of a Sith Lord and not a Jedi Master who believes that killing with the force is wrong…unless under extreme anger or suffering, hmm a Sith Lord sucking someone's soul out…would need to be a powerful Sith…get me my drawing board!!!...maybe the Original Lord, 25,000 years old trapped in a crystal…help!!!_**

**------**

The system was perfect, small and out of the way of the other major powers of the galaxy, five planets, one of which was capable of supporting life orbited around aging twin suns. The shapers had set to work the moment the taskforce arrived culling the planet of its dominant life forms and reforming it into the spitting image of one of the ancient Yuuzhan Vong worlds, full of deadly jungles and plains full of the ancient creatures that lived on their home-world they named this new bastion _Tricksters Blessing _after their trickster goddess Yun-Harla.

In orbit around it the warriors and shapers built a living shipyard and research station, shaped like Yuuzhan Vong worldship's the spherical creatures were the size and shape of a small moon, around the system the _Matalok _Cruisers were busy setting up dovin basil minefields ready to suck any passing by ship out of their faster than light travel, tests on these mines had proved successful sucking out merchant ships, the Yuuzhan Vong would raid them and then destroy them killing or enslaving all on board.

Supreme Commander Sharlick Carr stalked through the dimly lit, pulsing corridors of the research station towards the head shapers laboratories where she had been busy testing the Tyranid bio-ship that they had captured a month ago and researching on the wormhole that brought them to this galaxy, she had called him to her lab with the promise of a great discovery.

The two towering Yuuzhan Vong warriors hit their fists against their armoured chests in salute as he passed by them into the lab, it was a fairly sizable chamber full of shaping creatures, tools and experiments on the living tables and walls

The head shaper was at the other end starring intently at the hanger connected to the laboratories, it was within this hanger that the Tyranid bio-ship was sitting, it had been culled and searched thoroughly several times by the warriors and psychically shocked twice by the Yammosk to be sure they got all the reptilian creatures before they let Shaper Yer have it, all around her were her adepts and fellow shapers who were working on different projects.

"What is it Shaper Yer?" Carr growled, the head shaper turned to him and smiled.

"Several interesting things my lord" she said "But first I have found that this bio-ship has the capacity to think on it's own to the point were it does not require a crew but is directed by a creature known as a Norn Queen, similar to a Yammosk but on a smaller scale, it appears that this ship suffered damage before it ran into us that killed its coordinator and caused the ship to wonder blindly"

"Yes, so"

"I think I have found a way to mimic it" she said "If you would just follow me"

She lead the Supreme Commander through the main lab into a smaller hanger designed for fighter sized creatures, within it was two Corralskipper's, the fighters were hovering around the chamber executing simple turns. At the end of the hanger was a small group of Shaper adepts, one of which was wearing a living helmet commonly found on warships.

"What about it?" Carr asked impatiently "They seem like regular Corralskipper's"

"Yes it does" the head shaper agreed "Except for the fact that they do not have pilots"

It took a while for that to sink in before the Supreme Commander spun towards the head shaper in surprise "What?"

"They don't have pilots" the shaper repeated "Both are being controlled by the adept wearing the living helmet, it took me and my staff a month but we have finally integrated the two…think about it Supreme Commander, we can build hundreds of these and place them under the command of a single warrior squadron leader who will coordinate them like a Yammosk"

"Impressive" the Commander replied "Are there any side effects?"

"I am confident they have been sorted out" she said hesitantly.

"What are they?"

"Several of the first experiments have been showing signs of incredible intelligence similar to the Bio-ship" she confessed "We destroyed them and tried again"

"May I remind you head shaper that we are short on living craft, even with the creation of a shipyard" Carr scowled "But an interesting idea…what about your research into the wormhole?"

"I think that given the right equipment I can recreate the scenario and stabilize a wormhole" she answered "But I am still having trouble with coordinate settings, the scenarios say that the wormhole will lead to the Alliance galaxy but may come out at random locations"

"What is the chance that it will lead to one of our last major strongholds" Carr asked.

"At the moment five-to-one Supreme Commander" she replied.

"It will have to do, can it be closed if it ends up at an Alliance held system?" he asked.

The head shaper hesitated again before giving him an answer "Yes"

------

Four _Matalok _Cruisers hovered in strategic positions, making the four points of a diamond, these cruisers were modified with rushed artillery shaped emplacements similar to the one on the _Yun-Yuuzhan._

From the bridge of the _Uro-ik v'alh_ Battleship _God's Wrath _Supreme Commander Carr watched as the warships took up positions, the prototype weapons were very unstable and could destroy all four warships so the Commander evacuated them and left a skeleton crew of warriors on each ship, if this worked then he would have a working wormhole to the Alliance galaxy but if it failed his fleet would be at half strength.

Beside him was Head Shaper Yer who was looking on in interest to see if her experiment would work, the Commander raised his hand sending the order to begin, the artillery weapons glowed dark red before firing in unison, the four crimson beams meet in the centre with a flash and a massive wormhole appeared in the centre.

"Status on the wormhole" Carr ordered "Is it stable?"

"It's stable my lord" one of the scanning officers replied "Beginning transmission"

------

Supreme Commander Devar Hurkk growled angrily as he scanned the latest set of reports from the battlefront, another two strongholds had surrendered to the Alliance in the past few days.

This was a disaster, ever since the Supreme Overlord was assassinated the empire had just fallen apart, his warriors had lost their warrior spirit and the many different domains were now fighting each other almost forgetting about the Alliance until their war fleets were at the door. Many leaders felt that they had angered the gods with this invasion and were abandoned, so they were now surrendering to the Alliance, following the lead of the Warmaster.

Hurkk however had other plans, he wasn't about to lie down and die just yet, he had sent an invitation to all surviving Yuuzhan Vong armies and fleets to meet up with him here, at the still held world of Nal Hutta, once the throne-world of the small Hutt empire, now his staging ground, so far over a thousand warships had arrived including six Worldships, Battleships, Cruisers, escort craft and troopships.

"Kwaad, Carr, Qourrick, Yem" his second recited over the colour patterns on the ships that were the signs of their domain "Good, good…many have come"

"Yes" Hurkk said "But not enough…no were near enough to win this war"

"The war is over Supreme Commander" his second replied "We are leaderless and our numbers are a tenth of what they once were, were just here to carve one last trail of destruction"

"I remember a time when we could assemble an invasion fleet five times this size" Hurkk replied almost wistfully, he almost fell backwards in surprise when the wormhole appeared in front of his worldship.

"What in the name of Yun-Yuuzhan is that!?" his second said in shock.

"My Lord" one of his communicators called "I'm getting a transmission from that wormhole…its Supreme Commander Carr"

"Put it on" Hurkk ordered "Supreme Commander, I thought you were killed on Coruscant"

"Reports on my death have been much exaggerated" Carr replied "You will not believe where I am"

"Where?" Hurkk asked in interest.

"In another galaxy"

"Impossible" the Supreme Commander replied after a pause.

"No its not" Carr said "That new weapon you gave me was hit by a turbolaser blast seconds before it fired, the resultant explosion created a wormhole…my head shapers have analysed your design and found a way to recreate it"

Hurkk smiled fiendishly showing his serrated teeth at the thought of this, a new galaxy, a galaxy where a new empire could be created…a second chance, perhaps the gods haven't abandoned them after all "We start a new empire"

"And let our enemies fear us" Carr said "Once we have gained a sizeable empire in this galaxy we will return and finish the war we started in the Alliance galaxy…how many ships are under your command?"

"I have a thousand warships and carriers here" Hurkk replied "Including over a million warriors and six worldships"

"Send them through my friend" Carr replied "And in the name of Yun-Yuuzhan we will win or die in glory"

"I will send the ships in attendance through first" Hurkk said "Can you keep the wormhole open for a day; more of our brothers and sisters should arrive"

"We can hold it open for a day…but no more Supreme Commander" Shaper Yer said.

------

The escort craft came through the portal first, hundreds of Corvette, Frigate and Destroyer class craft, these ships swarmed around the system in search patterns checking that this wasn't an ambush, next to come through was the Cruisers and Battleships, teeming through the wormhole and moving a great distance from the blue portal and forming up in their assigned battle squadrons, finally the Worldships arrived, massive craft full of Yuuzhan Vong that rivalled the size of a moon, as the last one came through they took up orbiting positions around the closest planets.

Finally by the end of the day Supreme Commander Hurkk's worldship came through accompanied by a recently arrived fleet of two hundred warships before the wormhole finally closed, the _Matalok _Cruisers stayed where they were, if the invasion didn't go as planned they needed to recreate the wormhole.

Supreme Commander Carr knew just were to strike first, an empire not far away from here, his scouts had surveyed its borders, it was already at war with the human Imperium and those Tyranid creatures and the few vessels they had managed to intercept had informed them that it's name was the Tau Empire.

**How was that? Sounds a little out-there but work with me on this. With a working wormhole to the Alliance Galaxy the Yuuzhan Vong can strengthen their military strength and numbers, they can start an invasion on the galaxy? Find out in the next chapter_…_Don't forget to review!**

**Question – What is the Greater Good? Is it similar to the force?**


	12. Declaration of War

_**Chapter 11**_

_**Declaration of War**_

Through weeks of scouting the Yuuzhan Vong had decoded many locations and thoroughly searched this sector of space, so far they found several major threats within this area of space, the Tau Empire, the Imperium of Man, several Eldar Craftworlds, a half dozen Ork empires, and Tyranid Hive-Fleets thankfully none of these threats were near _Tricksters Blessing._

Supreme Commander Hurkk watched as the mesmerising display of millions of fireflies swarmed in the centre of his command chamber, converging together to create a perfectly detailed map of the Tau Empire, the scouting vessels had done well, the information they had required on the positions was as usual very accurate.

The Supreme Commander scowled when he saw the mapping of the empire, it was mainly a large group of densely packed star systems, a large scale invasion would probably be repelled because of the short distance of space between the neighbouring systems, their fleets could probably get to the attacked area very quickly, even without faster-than-light travel.

Thousands of spare fireflies converged showing the ship movements from merchants to warships, there was an invasion taking place in the southern quadrant of the Empire, yellow fireflies indicated the Imperium of Man had launched another crusade fleet. He watched as the neighbouring Tau fleets, coloured blue began to converge to the location and was impressed by how coordinated they were.

"A full invasion won't work" Hurkk finally said.

"Agreed" Supreme Commander Carr said with a nod "The continual failures of the human Imperium and the Tyranid swarms have proved that such an invasion would be too costly and fruitless"

"We also do not have the ships to mount such an invasion yet" Hurkk said flatly "Supreme Commanders Shai, Orrai and Yim report that they will be ready to proceed through the wormhole in a few weeks with the last of our forces…two thousand warships, transports and worldships"

"Good" Carr replied "For the time being we should start staging raids and surgical strikes in these points" he pointed to the western quadrant which the fireflies separated and reformed zooming into the area, the Supreme Commander pointed to several outlying star systems "Here and here, we will draw their fleets to these positions, make it look like an invasion will be staged and then hit them in a weakened spot"

"I will lead the first strike personally" Hurkk hissed as he pointed to one of the indicated positions, a small colony world that's defence fleet was weakened to deal with the latest Imperium assault.

------

Commander Shas'O Juliss scanned the flood of battle reports from the southern quadrant, the Imperium crusade had just meet the first defensive line of the Tau air-caste and was taking heavy casualties but thankfully holding their ground, the more time they bought the more ships could reinforce their positions.

The Commander sighed tiredly as he read the reports, over half of his fleet was moved to the southern quadrant to help in the defence leaving him with a taskforce made of his flagship, an _Explorer-class _Starship named the _Great Truth _with an escort of three _Merchant-class _Cruisers and twenty _Defender-class _Escorts, the planet they were tasked to defend was also defended by a massive space station and a dozen weapon platforms all bristling with weapons, formidable…but not enough to stop a major attack.

His head comm. Beeped and with a sigh he answered it "Yes?"

"Commander we have a fleet of ships jumping into our system"

The commander felt a chill run down his spine "Imperium?"

"Unidentified sir, the vessels are registering as alive to our sensors but don't match any Tyranid signatures"

The commander rose from his chair and rushed through the doors from his quarters towards the bridge, when he entered he saw that his crew were at their stations moving his force into defensive positions and warning the orbital defences "What have you got?"

"Two hundred vessels of unknown design have just jumped into the system, closer than what should be possible with warp travel"

"Open a channel" Juliss ordered briskly as he sat down on his command chair "Attention unidentified vessels you are approaching a planet under the protection of the Tau Empire, in the name of the Greater Good you will slow down and, identify yourselves!"

There was no answer, if anything the unknown group of warships increased speed coming in faster and faster.

"I repeat, you are approaching a Tau protected planet, if you will not slow you will be fired upon"

Fifty of the ships vanished in a bright flash and half a second later they reappeared right in front of Juliss' taskforce, a few seconds passed before they opened fire, thousands of plasma streams smashed into the shields of his ships causing the area around his _Explorer-class _to flash green as the super hot plasma collided with the shields.

"Return fire, return fire!!!" the Commander shouted over the near deafening thuds of plasma against shielding and hull armour. One of the _Defenders _was blasted in half by the opening barrage throwing debris in every direction.

The weapon batteries of the defence platforms refrained from firing because of how close the enemy ships were to their own and there was a great chance that their weapons could hit they're own ships as well as the enemies.

------

Supreme Commander Hurkk grinned viciously as his advanced guard micro-jumped through darkspace and reappeared right in front of the main cluster of Tau vessels, catching them by surprise and blasting them with their plasma cannons and magma launchers, another of their escorts was blown apart and the orbital defences, as predicted were holding their fire for fear of hitting their own.

The micro-jump had been first used by the Yuuzhan Vong during the opening battles of what was know known as the _Yuuzhan Vong Wars_ with great effect against the New Republic and her allies, although they learned how to copy the manoeuvre it had served them well.

"Another micro-jump" he ordered "The entire fleet, just outside of the planets gravity well"

The other hundred and fifty warships flashed out of existence and reappeared a few moments later among the defence platforms and opened fire the second they were able but the platforms were faster, the Yuuzhan Vong warships were known to be completely vulnerable for a few moments after a darkspace jump. Long lances of plasma darted from the cannons of the platforms and blasted into the unprotected armour of the closest ships, two Cruisers and five escorts were vaporised before his fleet could return fire but when they did they blasted half of the orbital defence platforms, turning them into blooms of fire and metal, the few remaining platforms continued firing taking out another Cruiser and three escorts before they were finally all destroyed.

With the platforms gone the fleet turned their attention to the towering space station which was firing continuously with its dozens of weapon batteries and missile launchers catching the lead escort and tearing it apart, the Yuuzhan Vong converged all of their fire on the space station and after a few minutes turned it into burning wreckage.

Hurkk could only smile as the space station started to drift away from them and gave an order to his main communicator "Let's finish the space forces, cripple their flagship and send in warriors to collect slaves for sacrifices, have ten ships bombard the capital cities of the planet, leave nothing but craters"

------

Shas'O Juliss managed a tight smile as the Cruiser sized ship he was duelling started to drift away, leaving a trail of wreckage behind it; the rest of the battle was lost. His fleet was gone, nothing but burning husks remained of his taskforce.

A massive explosion rocked the entire superstructure of the _Great Truth _sending Juliss and several of his crew falling to the decking.

"What happened!?" Juliss shouted as he picked himself up from the deck.

"We have lost our engines sir, we've been crippled…the lead ship is launching…" the ensign went silent, watching what was approaching the _Explorer-class _in shocked silence.

"What?" the Commander said.

The ensign didn't answer, instead he put the images of them up on the main screen, the entire crew watched the small vessels that approached, they looked like globs of flesh with gaping maws that smashed into the hull of the Starship and ate their way into the hull of the vessel.

"We have hull breaches in decks three, four, six and nine" another ensign, an insectoid Vespid informed "We've been boarded"

"Dispatch Fire Teams to those locations" the Commander ordered "Prepare to repel boarders"

------

Fire Warrior Kiess checked his plasma rifle before following his commanding officer through the well lit corridors of the _Great Truth_, he didn't know who these people were but he was not nervous, he had fought the Tyranids and the fanatical Imperium and thinks he could handle a force that he has never heard of.

His fellow fire warrior, Jamar rounded a corridor and was hit by a flurry of the enemies projectile weapons, Kiess growled, he had known Jamar for nearly four years and rounding the corridor with two of his fellow warriors. What he saw almost terrified him.

Humanoid creatures that stood nearly two metres tall, their exposed skin were covered with nasty scars and tattoos, they wore heavy armour with spike like protrusions sticking out of the back and they held intimidating staffs in their clawed hands.

Kiess shouldered his plasma rifle and fired downing the first charging warrior but the second jumped over his dead comrade and impaled the fire warrior with the long blade of his staff, as the Tau soldier looked down at the staff he saw a pair of beady black eyes starring up mercilessly at him, to his shock the eyes blinked and the dragon like mouth opened hissing at him before the darkness finally took him.

------

Commander Juliss prepped his rifle before aiming it at the closed doors, the nightmarish creatures had taken the entire ship except for the bridge and at this rate they'll soon have that.

He heard the sounds of plasma fire from the fire warrior teams outside of the bridge, followed by blood curdling screams and then after a few minutes there was only silence, then the doors exploded, the few crew members closest to the door were impaled by flying shrapnel before the nightmarish monsters charged through the molten wreckage of the door, screaming deadly war cries.

The bridge crew fired their weapons downing a half dozen of the warriors before they were on them, using their living weapons to hack of limps and heads.

The Tau Commander fired his rifle hitting another warrior straight in the face before another one swept in and swung his staff, severing the Commanders left leg sending him tumbling to the ground, the pain was almost unbearable but before he blacked out he looked up at one of the nightmarish faces of the creatures that had attacked his people and slaughtered thousands of innocents.

------

Hurkk looked down at the landscape of the planet, where the cities once stood was know smoking craters and rubble, the warriors had successfully returned from their battle, he smiled before one of his warriors called out.

"A large force is entering the system my lord, big enough to be a threat to us"

The Supreme Commander nodded before turning to the captain "Recall all warriors and prisoners, lets get out of here"

**What ya think? In the next chapter we go back to Halos fleet as Gabriel begins Alana's training, also a new hybrid weapon is about to be revealed, I need ideas and reviews!!...The Emperor protects.**


	13. The Apprentice

_**Chapter 12**_

_**The Apprentice**_

Alana scanned the screen of the computer terminal, reading the scrolls of information on the warship she was on, a holographic image of the vessel appeared in front of her detailing all of the armaments including weapons that she had never heard of before. The ship was called a _Star Destroyer_, _Imperial II-class _and was originally armed with 8 turbolaser batteries situated around the flank of the ships command tower with over 36 smaller turbolaser cannons, 20 ion cannons and 10 tractor beam emitters strategically placed around its durasteel hull armour, the ships hanger was capable of carrying a full wing of 72 starfighters, with 8 _Lambda _shuttles, 15 small troop transports, 5 gunships and a dozen vehicle and walker barges. The newer hybrid design had a layer of adamantium armour over the durasteel with four lance batteries replacing the front turbolasers.

"Amazing" Alana breathed as she read over the data; she had been on the _Vigilance _for just over two weeks and had thoroughly explored the interior of the Star Destroyer, but this was the first time she had actually seen an exterior view of the Alliance Cruiser.

She had been given a choice by Halos after she left the medbay, she could go back home or stay onboard the _Vigilance _for a while. She didn't have a home to go back to, the Dark Eldar had taken her parents away from her, killed her mother right in front of her eyes, she could still remember her mother leading her away from the pained and terrified screams that still haunted her nightmares, eventually being caught by the Dark Eldar who killed her mother with one, swift strike of his venom covered blade. If it wasn't for Gabriel's intervention she would have been next and she was thankful that he was there.

The Jedi master had explained to her in great detail that she was force-sensitive, telling her what the force was and asking her if she would like to be trained as a Jedi, she still wasn't sure but Gabriel let her take her time and think about it, teaching her a few basics on the force including self defence and the ability to communicate with him through the force if she needed any help or just someone to talk too. She decided know was such a time.

_Gabriel?_

_Yes _Gabriel replied after a moment.

_What does it mean to be a Jedi?_

_Well a Jedi's meaning is the way of the force, you cannot become a Jedi for selfish reasons like looking for fame, fortune, vengeance or power but for the pure thought that you wish to do good and to follow the will of the force, to be the shield for the helpless and the innocent, to be the sword against the wicked, those who wish only destruction or those who try to manipulate the force through fear and death, to become a healer to the sick and dying or to become a diplomat to find common ground between two sides. These are the ways of the Jedi, a healer, a negotiator, a protector and in some cases a warrior_

_Is the position of apprentice still open? _Alana thought to him after a moment of consideration.

_Of course_

_Then I agree to be your apprentice_

_Good, just one thing_

_Yes master _

_Don't call me master…I hate titles_

_Okay,_ Alana sent back, smiled wryly at the comment

------

Admiral Joseph Halos walked through the dimly lit corridors of the _Emperors Fire_, Captain Florn and Inquisitor Vallace following as they walked towards the Magi's quarters and entered, their two stormtrooper guards talking up positions by the Tech-Guard at the huge twin doors.

"Ah Admiral" Durin greeted as Halos entered "Inquisitor Vallace, Captain Florn, I have something to show you" the Magi pushed a datachip into the holoprojector and pushed several runes, a holographic image of a gun emplacement appeared.

"This is a new type of heavy weapon turret, a hybrid of Alliance and Imperium technologies with the range and accuracy of a turbolaser and the strength of a lance battery" the Magi explained "It took a while for your scientists and my Techpriests to agree on a name but they eventually named it the _turbolance battery_"

The three simply starred at the image in amazement before Halos finally managed to answer "This is very impressive Magi" he said as he walked around the image of the gun battery, studying its structure "When can the prototype be ready?"

"In roughly three to four days" the Magi replied "We plan on testing it by building a number of them on the _Emperors Fire_, once they prove successful we can modify your own warships with them, once completed with these weapons your warships will be a match for any others of their class within the Imperium navy"

"Which reminds me" Florn started as he too began circling the hologram with his Admiral "How is the modifications to the _Emperors Fire _progressing? Has the holonet and hyperdrive been giving anymore trouble?"

"None since our first test run" Durin replied "Your technicians were surprisingly thorough in finding and fixing the problems between the two technologies Captain Florn, the holonet is now working perfectly and the hyperdrive is also working extremely well and we plan on replicating these two devices to the rest of the fleet to see if they will work with a larger force"

The comlink on the Magi's armour began to bleep and grimacing at the sound he took it out and flipped it on "Yes?"

"My lord your presence is required on the bridge"

"I'm on my way up now" the Magi said, turning of the comlink "As you can see the holonet works fine but I am afraid we must cut this meeting short"

The two Alliance officers nodded and left but Inquisitor Vallace stayed behind, measuring the Magi with a cool and controlled gaze.

"Yes Inquisitor?" Durin asked.

"I need to make contact with my superiors on Terra" she said calmly "There is a certain important piece of Alliance technology that I think they should know about"

The Magi nodded "I see and what might this be? May I remind you that any trading between the Imperium and Alliance cannot happen without agreement between myself and the Admiral"

"Yes" the Inquisitor answered "But what if I tell you that this certain technology can help in taking a significant step to returning the Imperium to its former glory, with the Emperor once again at its head?"

The Magi considered the Inquisitors words very carefully wondering what this invaluable piece of technology could be, something very powerful if it could do what the Inquisitor proclaimed it could do.

"What is this piece of technology?"

------

As Gabriel entered the training room he was still deep in thought about the days events so far, he had an apprentice and he wasn't sure about where to begin her training, there was also the small problem of whether or not the Imperium would allow one of their own to be trained as a Jedi, he would have to have a talk with Inquisitor Vallace and hope for the best.

The training room was in fact a large chamber, on the white durasteel walls were cabinets and store rooms full of training equipment from training droids of several designs to weapons and safety equipment, the chamber itself was vast with black safety mats covering the durasteel floor, near the back there was also a shooting range. To Gabriel's surprise when he entered he saw Ishta Taldeer sparing with one of the Alliance soldiers, showing of her superior speed and finesse by dancing elegantly around her opponents punches and kicks before dropping to the ground and lashing out with her right leg tripping him up, the man fell to the ground with a grunt signalling an end to the match.

The Eldar woman fell into a defensive stance and with a smile of triumph signalled for her next opponent, the other four Alliance soldiers looked a little worse for ware telling Sabbath that she had beaten them a couple of times over.

"That can't be the best you can do" she exclaimed in disbelief as no one else came forward "An Eldar infant could do better"

"How about a Jedi master" Gabriel called as he approached, this could be just what he needed to get his mind off recent events, as his people said _Venting frustration is good for the soul._

She studied the Jedi as he approached and eventually nodded.

"Good" Gabriel said with a mischievous grin "So will it be hand to hand or anything goes"

In response Ishta raised her hand and her witchblade power sword flew into her outstretched fingers, the sword spun in her hand several times before she fell into a fighting stance, holding the double-edged sword under her right arm with both slender hands gripping the handle.

Gabriel's grin widened and with a thought his lightsabre floated off his belt and landed softly into his right hand, he thumbed it on, the green blade appearing with a _Snap-hiss _and almost by instinct fell into the defensive _Soresu _or _Form III _combat stance, one of his favourite techniques that was favoured by many Jedi for its defensive traits, the favoured style of great Jedi like Obi-wan Kenobi, Luminara Udali and Barriss Offee.

Ishta struck first, jumping high into the air and using a somersault to gain more velocity attacked with a downward slice, Gabriel side stepped the bold move and countered with a flurry of quick strokes, surprisingly Ishta recovered in time to parry every hit before jumping backwards.

With his lightsabre spinning in his hand Gabriel gathered the force around him and propelled himself forward, leaving a light trail of dust in his wake he swung with his lightsabre, the Eldar female showed her speed by ducking the strike and back flipped, putting more space between herself and the Jedi.

The next few minutes was a game of cut and dodge, each combatant attacking and dodging, trying to find a weakness in the others defensive strategy or waiting for exhaustion to create an opening. A small crowd was beginning to gather around the two fighters with soldiers, crew members and pilots watching with great interest.

Ishta was baffled by what was happening, how could a mere human keep pace with her, her race was faster and smarter than the humans but here was a human who was matching her move for move, proving to be just as quick and agile as she was, proving that he could think on his feet and come up with a new way to counter her strikes. Every time she tried to finish the match this Jedi knight would sidestep her, dodge her attacks or keep her on the defensive with a flurry of his own attacks.

She had to find an opening and fast, the wounds she had suffered at the hands of her savage dark kin were still healing, although the bacta had healed them greatly she was beginning to feel the exhaustion and slight pain that usually came when overexerting ones self over recovery.

She searched and found what she was looking for, he wasn't defending himself as well on the left as he was on the right, if she could just make the smallest opening…there, she dropped to the ground and lashed out with everything she had at the small opening on his left leg, her aim was perfect, hitting the Jedi and taking away his balance, he fell to the mat. Smiling Ishta jumped on top of him and pointed her blade just a few inches away from his throat.

"I win" she said triumphantly, proving that an Eldar can beat a human in combat like this any day, but she suddenly felt something metallic tap against her stomach and looking down saw the lightsabre, un-ignited held against her abdomen.

"Draw" the Jedi said, that same mischievous grin on his face that he had at the start of the match.

Ishta let a feral growl escape her lips before she relaxed her witchblade and rolled off the human, she rose to her feet, sheathed her sword and stalked away towards the exit fuming over being so careless, he planned that move, he let her see that he wasn't defending his left side as well as his right, for some reason she knew he had planned their match to end in a draw.

As she got a safe distance away from the training chamber she allowed a small smile to cross her lips, this human, Gabriel Sabbath was quite interesting.

------

Magi Durin stood on the bridge of the _Emperors Fire, _his heavily augmented face set in a worried expression "You are sure?"

"Yes sir" the Imperium captain replied over the new holonet frequency "We have lost contact with our third colony in just as many months; our scouts saw them and their en route to Helios Prime, a splinter fleet of Tyranids, looks like survivors of Hive Fleet Kraken"

"How many?"

"At least four hive-ships, a hundred cruisers surrounded by around a thousand smaller creatures" the navy captain replied, his weathered face expressing both fear and concern "A fleet must be gathered"

"And gathered a fleet shall" Durin agreed "I have four Battleships, twenty Cruisers and a hundred support craft…we will have to leave the four extra cruisers at Scorpios…how many can you spare?" he didn't bother to tell the captain that six of those twenty cruisers were the Alliance Star Destroyers.

"Around three _Retribution_ Battleships, six _Dictator _Cruisers and around a hundred escorts" the captain replied "We could probably gather more but it will take time"

"Time that we do not have" the Magi spat "I will take this fleet and strike the Tyranids at this point" he pointed to a small area on the newly installed holomap between Helios Prime and the last colony to lose contact "Send as many ships as you can to that location"

The Captain nodded, made the sign of an aquila and vanished the Magi turned to his aide "Get me Admiral Halos"

It wasn't long before Durin was standing in front of the holographic image of the Alliance Admiral "Admiral we have a large fleet of Tyranids en route to Helios, we have been asked to stop them and buy time for reinforcements to arrive"

Halos nodded, his face set in determination, he had read up on the Tyranids thanks to the data Durin had sent him and knew what those monsters were capable off once they reached Helios, even with the planets heavy defences if one ship managed to land on the forge world then thousands of innocent lives would be put at risk.

"What can we do to help?"

**Well what do you guys think of that? I did a little fan service here with the fight, someone asked me to write something like that a while ago, hope the brawl didn't disappoint. What might this piece of technology be? and can the Tyranid hive-fleet be stopped in its tracks before it reaches another colony…send me reviews on what you think and May the Force Be With You!**

**Question: - What are the capabilities and weapons of Tyranid ships? What are their ship classes called?**


	14. Visions

_**Chapter 13**_

_**Visions**_

As the Alliance/Imperium fleet arrived at the rendezvous point Admiral Halos could only stare out at the mass of warships in awe, dominating the view were three _Emperor-class _and four _Retribution-class _Battleships, their hundreds of plasma and lance batteries sticking out of their intimidating forms like sharpened spines, forming up around them were dozens of Cruiser class warships including _Dictator, Lunar, Avenger _and _Exorcist-classes_, ranging from 6 to 9km in length, these smaller ships were no less intimidating, if that wasn't impressive enough there were swarms of smaller escorts including _Dauntless, Sword, Firestorm _and _Cobra-classes _that ranged in size from 500m to the size of an _Imperial _Star Destroyer.

However more ships were still arriving, in the distance the intimidating silhouettes of three ancient _Mars-class _Battlecruisers and twenty more _Cobras _and_ Swords _jumped in from the warp.

"It appears that Helios could assemble more ships than we thought" Rosso said in awe at the hundreds of warships that were swarming into formation "Incredible show of strength"

"Admiral" Magi started "You and your ships will make the rearguard of our force, stay with my ship and provide artillery fire"

"Understood Magi" Halos replied "What can you tell me about the Tyranids?"

"They are a deadly menace to this galaxy Admiral" the Magi said "I have fought these creatures many times and I can assure you they are an extragalactic plague that do nothing but murder billions and rape worlds of all life"

"So those colonies that you lost contact with…" Captain Mynn started before going silent.

"It is likely that they are nothing more than lifeless lumps of rock" the Magi said "Purged of all life by their Leviathan Hive-ships"

"How long until they arrive" Captain Severi asked.

"Our scouts report that they're three hours out" Durin answered "We plan to let them come to us and then bombard them with our lances"

------

In the few hours before the arrival of what the Magi had called the _Great Devourer _Master Sabbath had decided to train Alana in a few more force abilities, at the moment Alana was trying to meditate, and failing miserably.

"Relax my apprentice" Gabriel said with a smile as he looked up from his datapad "To meditate properly you must clear your mind of any distractions and know patience, to find a peaceful flow within yourself…through force meditation you can see many things, the future, the past, old friends long gone"

"Yes master" Alana replied as she opened her grey eyes "I sense something but can't pinpoint it"

"Don't try and force yourself Alana" Gabriel cautioned "Clear your mind and relax, the force is always with you, a whisper in the back of your mind…can you hear it?"

"Yes master" Alana replied after a moment, her body and her youthful features relaxed, she heard the force, a quiet whisper in the back of her mind and as she relaxed further into its flow the whisper got louder, Alana lost track of time, of her surroundings, all that she felt was the soft, comforting light of the force surrounding and encompassing her.

_She opened her eyes to find that she was no longer within Master Sabbath's living quarters but in a massive chamber, the walls were made of grey stone with towering, thick pillars on either side of the passage, holding up the high stone ceiling, on either side of the chamber were statues, their features long decayed, she blinked and found herself in the centre of the chamber._

_The sound of maniacal laughter made her cringe and hesitantly she turned to the source, she nearly screamed in fear as four Dark Eldar Incubi warriors ran into the chamber and rushed right through her, feeling sick she spun around to see them rushing towards the silhouette of a person, his figure hidden in long black robes._

_As the Incubi made the final stride towards him their blades sliced through black mist instead of a solid body, the person reappeared right beside her, he wore a mask that was coloured bronze and silver with a T-shaped black visor, he placed his hands against his hips pulling back the robes to reveal armour coloured bronze, silver and black, with the hilt of a lightsabre clipped to his waste._

_Alana could only gasp at the figure, was he a Jedi? What was he doing here? As far as she knew Master Sabbath was the only Jedi within this galaxy, the Incubi charged towards the intimidating figure, blades ready to strike. _

_Without a sound the mysterious Jedi raised his hands in the shapes of claws and long blue bolts of lightning shot from his black gloved fingers, smashing and encompassing the lead Eldar, the raider's body shuddered before he fell to the floor, his armoured form steaming._

_The Jedi drew his lightsabre and activated it, a crimson red blade shimmering into existence that made Alana shudder, many innocents and Jedi had fallen to that weapon. As the Eldar raiders came within metres of him the Dark Jedi jumped at them, corkscrewing unnaturally in midair as he went and stabbed one of the Eldar in the chest, he then pulled the weapon clear and in a flash of movement spun around cutting into the abdomen of the second Incubi before meeting the power sword of the third._

_He spun deflecting the quick strikes of the Eldar before in a movement to swift to see he decapitated the last warrior. He deactivated his weapon and stalked towards her, she backed away as he came closer, but instead of bumping into her he passed right through her, thousands of years of life and knowledge flowed through her with him and along with those thousands of years of experience came a name. _

…_Darth Revan…_

_She spun around to see his retreating back, his lightsabre reactivating as he stalked towards another group of Dark Eldar warriors, he weaved his lightsabre deflecting the splinter rounds and suddenly everything went black._

Alana awoke with a shudder to see Gabriel shaking her "Alana, are you alright?"

"Yes master" she breathed "I…I touched the force, I was in the force"

"Incredible" Gabriel said as he sat down beside her, a mystified smile on his face "You have perfected meditation on your first go"

"Master I had a vision" Alana said "But I don't know whether it's past, future or even important"

"What did you see?" Gabriel asked, his face turning serious.

Alana took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she could still see the temple vividly in her mind "I was in a temple of grey stone, Dark Eldar Incubi were fighting a warrior dressed in black, and I heard his name through the force…Darth Revan"

"Impossible" Gabriel said calmly "Darth Revan lived over three thousand years ago"

"I'm just telling you what I saw master" Alana said quietly before yawning.

"We'll look into this later Alana" Gabriel said, managing a small smile "Why don't you get some sleep"

The young girl nodded and walked into her room, as the door closed Gabriel moved back to his table, this vision may be important but for know there was a more pressing threat, picking up his datapad he surveyed the information on the Tyranids and growled frustratingly.

So far only four forms of Tyranid ships were known, the largest being what was named _Leviathan-class Hiveships, _monstrous ships similar to marine squids in appearance that were said to be the same size if not bigger than an Imperium Battleship, next in line was the _Razorfiend-class Cruiser, _considerably smaller but no less deadly, shaped like manta rays, these craft were about the size of an Imperial Cruiser, next was the smaller _Stalker _and _Prowler-class Droneships_, small escort sized monsters that the Jedi guessed were comparable to Imperium _Cobras _and _Swords._

Besides their given names and descriptions Gabriel knew very little about them, anywhere where important information on these living ships was needed there was only a blank and the Jedi mentally cursed the stupidity of those who wrote these descriptions.

_What are their manoeuvring and combat capabilities?_ Gabriel thought frustratingly as he continued to scan the information _Are their weapons long ranged? Do they even have weapons? How many creatures do these things carry? _

The sudden sound of alarm blares signalled that the Tyranids had arrived, from his viewport Gabriel could see the gun batteries of the _Vengeance _open up with every long ranged weapon she had. As the Jedi rose to his feet and rushed out of his quarters he guessed that he would have answers to his questions in one form or another.

------

Halos ordered the view screens to maximum zoom and saw the massive fleet of Tyranid ships which were an intimidating sight, reminding him of the Yuuzhan Vong fleets that he had fought barely a year before. The hiveships were the first things to take shape in the distance followed by the specks of hundreds of support craft. As more and more ships began to appear out of the dark void of space the Admiral could only gape at how many there were, hundreds, maybe thousands of living monsters soared across the darkness towards the Imperium and Alliance battle line, as they got closer he only thanked the force that they would meet this swarm in deep space, lightyears away from the nearest inhabited planet.

It was a half hour later before the Tyranids came within weapons range but when they did the Imperium unleashed a withering salvo of firepower, thousands of beams of lance energy streamed out of the hundreds of warships tearing dozens of _droneships_ and _Razorfiends_ fell under the withering barrage.

"Order all Battleships to pick their targets" Durin ordered "One shot each aimed for a _Razorfiends_" he waited for a few more minutes before at least nine of the living warships were in range "And fire!!!"

The space around the battleships lit up with yellow light as the Battleships fired their Nova Cannons, the powerful shells zoomed across space before colliding with the cruisers and exploding in blinding flashes of light, Halos and all of his captains winced under the near blinding light.

"Incredible" Florn said in disbelief "What in the force was that!?"

"That captain was our Nova Cannons" Inquisitor Vallace said with a fiendish smile "Anti-ship weapons specially made to take out larger capital ships"

A second round of shells fired from the battleships finishing of the already badly damaged hiveships, the nine targeted _Razorfiends _were blown apart in blinding flashes of light.

Even with the withering barrage the Tyranid ships were pushing forward, for every vessel that was destroyed by the concentrated fire another three took its place as they slugged their way through space, slowly closing the distance between them and the metal ships firing continuously at them.

As they got closer the living ships opened fire with their guns, at first Halos thought they were normal explosive blasts but as they got closer he saw that the salvos were spherical shaped.

"Inquisitor" Halos asked as he zoomed a view screen "What are they?"

The Inquisitor scanned the projectiles and her eyes widened in horror "Shot them down" she said, fear evident in her voice "Shot them down!"

"What are they?"

"Those are surgical transports" she said "Within are a shock force of Tyranid warriors, they drill into the strongest hulls and unleash their payload of creatures"

"Enough said" Halos said "Scramble the fighters, order them to target the pods and destroy them, contact the Magi and tell him to do the same!"

------

The swarms of starfighters flew out of the belly hangers of the Star Destroyers; at the lead was Colonel Rachel Wern, a Corellian and leader of _Redsun Squadron_. She led her assortment of X-wings and Tie Interceptors through the maelstrom dodging the major engagements between Imperium _Thunderhawks _and Tyranid drones before spotting the pods, sickening spheres that reminded her of Yuuzhan Vong transports.

"_Redsun _leader to _Redsun _flight" Rachel said "Form up into your groups and choose your targets, we need to get as many of them as we can, avoid major skirmishes unless you need to"

She then banked her X-Wing sharply behind the nearest sphere and targeting it let lose a salvo of red laserfire, the red shards collided with the transport searing through its stone plated hull, it exploded in a burst of fire. Her smile was cut short as the Tyranid warrior smashed into her shields, trying desperately to cut through to her canopy, the large monster didn't get the chance as it was vaporised against the shields.

She let out a ragged breath and hit off the proximity alarm before turning her comlink to the squad frequency "Watch out for backlash, my shields are almost gone!"

"We got ya cap" _Redsun two _said over the frequency as he and _three _flew in close to her creating a _shield trio_.

This type of close flight was developed by the Jedi during the Yuuzhan Vong Wars, designed to strengthen the shielding and concentrate fire on a single target, the shields of the three fighters would overlap and strengthen their defence, Rachel didn't agree with all of the Jedi's decisions but admitted that they made brilliant battle plans.

Together Rachel and her companions formed up into a shield trio and targeted the next sphere, the front two X-Wings opened fire with their laser cannons riddling the Tyranid pod with laserfire before watching it explode.

The colonel took the moments peace to look at what was happening around her, thousands of starfighters and Tyranid skirmished for as far as the eyes could see, the Tyranid warships were close enough to fire their short ranged weapons including Bio-plasma cannons and organic torpedoes, a dozen _Swords _and _Cobras _were blown apart and a _Dictator _cruiser, its bridge section smoking from several direct hits drifted out of the battle line, dozens of secondary fires started to appear on her hull. The _Emperors Fire_, the Alliance ships firing continuously from the protection of the larger ships void shields started to back away from the fast approaching bioships, a few of her escorts following suit, firing everything they had.

"Break, break, break"

Rachel broke her gaze off what was around her and instinctively spun away from her wing mates, they in turn broke from their defensive trio just in time as a small swarm of Tyranid fighters fell upon where they once were and broke off in pursuit, Rachel dived sharply, feeling the g-force of the tight turn before the dampeners kicked in a moment late.

The Tyranid drones continued pursuit firing continuously with their bio-plasma cannons, she started executing sharp turns to dodge the salvos of plasma but the odd shot hit of her shields weakening them further, the next shot could break the shield and cripple her little fighter.

A devastating barrage of red laserfire met the Tyranid drones turning several of them to balls of fire, the remaining living monsters broke off pursuit, her squad mates had just saved her.

She scanned her ships radar searching for the pods but they were nowhere to be seen, they had passed her "_Vigilance _we have taken out seven pods but the others have slipped past us!"

------

"Fire short range weapons" Halos called as the surviving pods appeared on the screen, out of the hundreds of surviving pods a dozen of them were aimed for his ships "All troopers first alert, Master Sabbath they could use a Jedi's leadership!"

The Jedi master nodded and ran out of the bridge with almost supernatural speed.

He caught a brief twitch from the Inquisitors mouth and smiled "You wish to join the defence?"

"If you'll let me" she replied.

"I'm sure that master Sabbath will welcome your experience in battle against these creatures" Halos replied "He'd be gathering forces in the main hanger bay"

With a brief nod to Halos and Florn Inquisitor Vallace spun on her heel and stalked out of the bridge.

"Shot 'em down" Florn shouted as the pods came ever closer "Bring us hard to port, maybe we can get out of their way"

The Alliance warships immediately began executing turns, trying to get away from the transport pods but the _Vigilance _turned to late, half of the pods were vaporised against the shields but a few managed to get through and started drilling through the Star Destroyers armoured hull.

Halos steadily checked the power pack of his blaster pistol "Send response teams to the following points"

------

"You with me" Vallace ordered to the squad of Stormtroopers before stalking past them down the corridor, she entered the turbolift and waiting for the soldiers to follow her in before hitting the button to the furthest down floor.

She lead her requisitioned squad down another corridor and stopped dead when she heard something smash against the outer side of the left wall, she stepped back, falling into a defensive stance with her power sword, the Stormtroopers hesitantly following suit, raising their blaster rifles towards the wall.

The pod broke through the durasteel wall and unleashed a small swarm of Tyranid Gaunts and a warrior, standing at least 5m tall it found the corridor a tight squeeze, the Stormtroopers rushed out in front of the Inquisitor, shielding their charge and spraying the Gaunts with blaster bolts, Robyn admired these men, they reminded her of Imperial Guard except they had the discipline of the Space Marines, a very dangerous concept.

They managed to down all of the Gaunts before the warrior righted itself and used its scythe like claws to rip through her protectors, blood spattered onto the walls and the floor as the Stormtroopers were torn to pieces, return fire bounced of the monsters armoured scales.

Robyn charged forward, her fifty years of experience as a Sister of Battle kicking in, she swung her power sword slicing of one of the warriors claws, it screeched in pain before spurting acid from its adrenal glands, the Inquisitor jumped away but the small spray caught her sword arm, acid flowed onto her clothes and she screamed in agony before being hit by the warriors whip like tail, she flew backwards and crashed into an unyielding durasteel wall.

Blood dribbled down her mouth as the acid began to burn through her robes, she quickly disposed of them and looked up to see the warrior, blood covering its remaining scythe claw and spatter on his scales. Time seemed to go slow as it approached her, its black, lifeless eyes starring mercilessly at her and then it charged.

**In the next chapter the Tyranid shock troops come face to face with the Alliance soldiers, how much damage can they bring and what will happen to Inquisitor Vallace, and how will the main battle go? And if you are a little confused by the vision don't worry all will be revealed in time, fans of Revan prepare, Keep watching for the next chapter…_Kraken_!, oh and reviews please!!!**


	15. Kraken

_**Chapter 14**_

_**Kraken**_

**_New chapter is up everybody, thank you for the reviews and ideas on parts of the story, glad everyone liked the idea of putting Revan into the plot, if this goes right he/she could turn out to be around 4,000 years old (give or take a few years) and may be very powerful…nothing compared to the Emperor though (he's 43,000 years old right?) and thanks to everyone who has given me information on Tyranid tech. _**

_**How powerful do you guys think a Hellgun should be?**_

The Tyranid warrior loomed over her, its mouth opening and closing, dripping reddened saliva and showing needle sharp, bloodied teeth, its beady black eyes continued to stare lifelessly at her, its one last surviving scythed talon hovering a few metres over her battered body, ready to thrust through her chest in a downward stroke.

The burning pain on her arm was almost constant making Robyn whimper, she was too afraid to look down at the source in case she sees nothing but a pool of melted flesh and Tyranid glandular acid.

Towering over her know the monster raised its arm to deliver the final strike, there was a snap and then an emerald lightsabre flew through the air and cut into the warriors shoulder making the Tyranid screech and stumble backwards.

The weapon flew out of the creature, spurting blue blood as it exited and returned to its owner, Gabriel stood at the end of the corridor, spinning the hilt in his hand before activating the blade once again, the Eldar, Ishta, appeared right beside him, wearing her mesh armour and holding her witchblade in front of her.

"Are you willing to fight with a human?" Gabriel asked.

"That depends" Ishta replied as she spun her witchblade before holding the grip with both hands "Are you willing to fight alongside an Eldar?"

The Jedi smiled before nodding, the two turned to the Tyranid who had just righted itself again and ignoring the injured inquisitor charged towards them, it's every step making the entire corridor shake.

Their movements suddenly a blur the two jumped in midair just dodging the warriors charge, they dived behind the incensed creature, and Gabriel swung his lightsabre severing the whip like tail.

The two landed and skidded across the decking before in unison they pounced at the warrior again, lightsabre and witchblade cutting elegantly through the Tyranids back, screaming in agony the monster spun, swinging his last bladed talon which was elegantly severed by Ishta's power sword, in a finishing stroke the Jedi master jumped into the air driving his energy blade through the warriors chin and exiting at the top of its head, Gabriel force-jumped backwards just missing the several tonnes of dead armoured flesh falling where he once stood.

Deactivating his lightsabre Gabriel rushed to the inquisitor and checked her pulse, she'd pull through, he then checked her arm and found that the acid had hit her hand melting it to the point where not even the bone remained; the power sword was nothing more than a puddle of acid and molten metal beside her.

He unclipped his comlink and thumbed it on "Medbay, I've got a casualty here with a missing hand, needs a bacta tank and a cybernetic limp prepped"

He hit it off and lifted the Inquisitors limp form in his arms before turning to Taldeer "Think we can make a detour to the medbay before moving to the hanger?"

------

Magi Durin watched as the Tyranid ships got closer and closer, firing their bio-plasma cannons and torpedoes continuously, the Imperium ships returned fire, thousands of lance and plasma salvos streamed from their gun ports slamming into the Tyranid ships turning _droneships_ and _Razorfiends _to burning pieces, the five hiveships had just got into weapons range.

"All battleships aim your Nova cannons for the lead hiveship" the Magi shouted, the fleet of battleships slightly turned towards the hiveship, lining up the massive guns for shots at the enormous _Leviathan._

"Fire!"

The nine battleships fired another bombardment of nova shells at the lead hiveship, the high powered rounds pounded into the front of the ship, the combined firepower tore the front section of the squid shaped monster apart.

A flash of blinding light signalled another Imperium ship, a _Vengeance-class _Cruiser was cracked in half by combined fire, hundreds of blooms of light between the two warring fleets signalled the deaths of hundreds of _Thunderhawk _fighters and _Marauder _bombers along with the living monsters that were skirmishing with them.

"Magi, Tyranid pods have attached themselves to the _Vigilance_" his scanning officer called "Admiral Halos reports heavy fighting in the hanger and a few corridors but assures that his soldiers can handle them"

Durin turned his gaze to the _Vigilance_; the Star Destroyer was hovering next to the _Emperors Fire _still firing with every gun port it had, a defensive screen of Alliance fighters skirmished with Tyranid scouting groups all around it.

------

As Gabriel and Ishta entered the hanger they saw blood pool out all over the floor, bodies of dismembered Alliance soldiers and charred black reptilian Tyranids alike were littered all over the decking but the fight was far from over as five warriors were scattered along the hanger, each one carving a path of destruction.

Smaller Tyranid Gaunts and Genesteelers were charging heavy concentrations of Stormtroopers and Alliance soldiers and getting mowed down by constant blaster and heavy weapon rounds.

He heard the sounds of footsteps behind him and the Jedi turned to see a squad of white armoured Stormtroopers approach him, eight of them, their armour reminiscent of the Old Republics Clone Troopers with blue markings covering their white armour, six of them carried specially modified blasters and the other two carried much larger and more powerful blast cannons.

They were ARC troopers, specially trained shock and reconnaissance soldiers that were originally used to great effect during the Clone Wars, but after the war they were disbanded, near the end of the Yuuzhan Vong Wars nearly fifty years later they were reinstated by the Empires special divisions.

"Sir" the lead trooper called, a major by the insignias on his armour "Sorry about being late, where do you need us?"

"Follow us to the nearest contingent trooper" Ishta shouted over the near deafening sounds of blood curdling screams and weapons fire before running out into the maelstrom.

"Quite the lady" the major commented before ordering his heavy troopers to provide cover fire and charged after her, Gabriel and his squad in tow, the blast cannons revved up and fired spraying a deadly line of armour piercing blaster fire at approaching Tyranids, a dozen hormagaunts were riddled with black gapping holes before the heavy troopers took up the rear of the ARC troopers advance.

Ishta, Gabriel and the ARC troopers jumped into the twisted wreckage of a Y-Wing were a squad of soldiers were taking cover "What's the situation?"

"They just fell from the rafters and started tearing people apart sir" a female Omwati pilot spoke up before letting off a few more rounds from her blaster pistol, a spray of white shards riddled the other side of the Y-Wing and tore into a Chiss soldiers face killing him before he fell backwards.

"They're in the rafters" the ARC major shouted, in cue everyone aimed their blasters at the rafters and fired taking down a half dozen Gaunts. One survived and fell upon the Y-wing slicing through one of the ARC troopers; in a quick cut the Jedi master severed its head.

"We need more firepower than this" Ishta shouted agitatedly as she fired her shuriken pistol.

"A contingent of the 512th Stormtrooper legion is en route" the major replied as he drew dual blaster pistols and started firing "ETA two minutes!"

"Tell them to bring heavy weapons" Gabriel ordered as he deflected several fleshborer rounds with his lightsabre "Grenade rifles, missile launchers, assault cannons…whatever they can carry!"

"Yes sir!"

------

Three Tyranid drones dived into the bridge shields of the _Vigilance _flashing blue and orange as they collided, two pursuing Tie Interceptors just managed to dodge the bridge section, breaking into tight climbs.

His ships were staying close to the _Emperors Fire _as advised, well protected by the void shields of the _Retribution-class_, firing at any Tyranid ships that were stupid enough to get too close, their part was simple, fire at the escortswhile the battleship exchanged fire with the larger _Razorfiends_ and hiveships.

A _Stalker _was torn apart by the combined fire of the _Firestorm _and _Spirit _while the _Vengeance _came alongside Halos flagship.

"Admiral" one of the ensigns said "Captain Rosso asks if you need reinforcements to deal with the Tyranids"

"Tell her we're fine" Halos responded "We have confined most of them to the hanger bays and are sending in extra troops"

He then starred out into the main maelstrom, the Tyranid flood of warships had turned into a trickle, the trail of the ravenous aliens advance could be followed by the hundreds of burning husks of their own dead bioships.

It would only be a matter of time as another combined volley of Nova shells and lance beams smacked into the side of one of the last two hiveships carving a massive, gapping wound into its side, the creature screamed in pain before a second volley of Virus Bombs smashed into the same wound.

------

Alana remained in her room, sitting cross legged on the floor with the tools and pieces of materials used to put a lightsabre together, she had been building one for nearly five days and was almost finished, she just needed to put the power conduit and the focusing crystal into the hilt, building the symbolic weapon took her mind of the constant flashes of explosions and weapon discharges taking place outside her viewport.

The sound of blaster fire from outside her room took her attention off her work, she walked to the door and creaked it open, a Stormtrooper crashed through the front door of the main room, a deep, fatal slice wound on his torso, through the door came a nightmarish creature that she read was called a Hormagaunt.

Alana just stopped herself from screaming in fear at the sight of this monster, it was about a half metre tall with heavy insect-like armour, its two arms ended in bladed talons and its monstrous head was covered in horns and spikes, it opened its mouth revealing lines of bloodied teeth.

It caught sight of her and jumped over the dead soldiers, in fear she slammed the door just as a talon sliced through it, she jumped back looking around frantically for something to barricade the door, then she remembered the emergency blast door and sending out a small blast of force energy hit the switch at the other side of the room and she heard the grinding of the blast door, severing the Gaunts bladed limp.

She backed away from the door and fell backwards onto her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she trembled in shock.

------

The arrival of the 512th was well timed as the Tyranids had nearly overrun the scattered soldiers all over the hanger, when they did come they came with massive firepower, firing missile launchers, grenade launchers and rapid blast cannons at the Tyranid swarms, two warriors were hit head on by the barrage and were torn apart in explosions of gore and splintered bones.

"How do you like your Tyranid sir?" the ARC major asked sarcastically as he grabbed a grenade launcher and fired a concussion grenade into a duo of Gaunts tearing them apart.

"Preferably turned to dust and thrown into space!" Gabriel replied as he weaved his lightsabre, deflecting Tyranid projectiles.

Ishta let out an ear splitting howl before jumping over the wrecked Y-Wing and sidestepping a Genestealers talons decapitated it with her witchblade, Gabriel jumped after her deflecting a fleshborer round aimed at the Eldar warrior. The ARC troopers and rearmed pilots jumped after him firing a withering barrage of blaster bolts and grenades at the attacking Tyranids, cover fire from the recently arrived 512th's heavy weapons cut through the reptilian swarm like a blade through air.

A hormagaunt cut through a Bothan pilots neck spurting blood, the Jedi spun angrily stabbing his blade into the Tyranid's gut, the creature screamed before falling limp and pulling the blade out of the dead monster he sent a force push into a warrior causing the 5m tall giant to stumble and receive a barrage of rockets into its exposed side tearing it apart.

As Gabriel jumped back he heard a call of help from the force, it was Alana and she seemed terrified "Major can you deal with this?"

"Easily sir" the Major replied as he put the blaster bolt into a Tyranid Genestealers head, Gabriel nodded his thanks and rushed out of the hanger towards the living chambers, as he ran into his room he saw a Tyranid Gaunt and his blood ran cold.

In a near panic he looked at Alana's room and saw to his relief that the blast door had been sealed…_Good girl _he sent to her before he sidestepped the Gaunts dive and swinging his lightsabre neatly ran it through.

Deactivating his lightsabre he nudged Alana with the force telling her she was safe, the blast door rose and Alana hesitantly stepped out.

------

The battle had ended, the Tyranid swarms had been beaten and scattered across space with Imperium warships chasing the larger concentrations, all of the hiveships had been completely destroyed but the Imperium had suffered heavy losses with the _Retribution _battleship _Solar Flare_ rammed by the last hiveship in its death throes and the _Emperor _battleship _Benevolentia_ being torn to pieces by combined kamikaze attacks by a half dozen _Razorfiends._

The Magi's fleet had then begun searching for survivors under Halos request, among the wreckage were dozens of Alliance rescue shuttles searching for anyone still alive, already over a hundred survivors had been found and transported to the Star Destroyers medical bays.

Inquisitor Vallace sat on her bed, flexing the fingers of her new cybernetic hand, she shook her head in amazement, it felt and looked exactly like her real hand, definitely better than the crude metal replacements that her own people had, the Alliances medical technology was indeed well ahead of their own.

The wounds to her arm had been wrapped in bacta bandages and she had requisitioned a fresh set of clothing from the Star Destroyers stores, her tattered and now useless Inquisitorial robes had been replaced by the blue and silver armour of the Alliances honour guards which were quite a snug and surprisingly comfortable fit for battle-armour.

The medical bays, along with every other section of the ship was put under heavy guard when the Alliance was informed about the Tyranids nasty ability to infiltrate ships, extra units were being sent from the other Star Destroyers within the fleet until they were sure the Tyranids were truly gone.

"Inquisitor Vallace" the now familiar voice of Master Sabbath asked "Did you wish to see me?"

"Yes Jedi Sabbath" Robyn replied as she continued to flex her cybernetic hand "Please come in"

The Jedi master entered the single bedded medical room and bowed to the Inquisitor; Robyn nodded and motioned him to sit down.

"I heard it was you and Warlock Taldeer who saved me" she said, tearing her gaze from her hand to look at him, his robes were covered in slick blue and red blood symbolising that he had been in the thick of the fighting "Thank you"

"Your welcome Inquisitor" Gabriel replied.

"You found a young girl on Scorpios who had lost her parents" the Inquisitor said, it wasn't a question.

"Yes" Gabriel replied hesitantly, he knew this would happen sooner or later "She had lost her parents to the Dark Eldar, I took her in"

"And she is a psychic"

"Yes"

"Usually I would have her sent to be trained as a psyker" she replied, a smile curling her lips "but I think I can overlook her"

"Thank you Inquisitor" Gabriel replied, slightly surprised.

"Oh and tell Admiral Halos that I'd wish to talk with him the moment these ridiculous healers clear me" Robyn said.

"I'll be sure to tell him" Gabriel replied with a smile before turning to leave the medical room.

Although she didn't say it Gabriel could tell that he had gained the Inquisitors respect and probably gained an ally in the Imperium, he wasn't completely sure but only time will tell.

**What are your thoughts? In the next chapter the Alliance fleet finally returns to Helios and the Inquisitor lets Admiral Halos in on her own agendas, Alana's visions begin to get more sudden in the next chapter…_Secrets Revealed._**


	16. Secrets Revealed

_**Chapter 15**_

_**Secrets Revealed**_

**Just a little note, it was the Emperor of Mankind that I was talking about and not Palpatine, I hate that guy, if I bring Palpatine into this it would be to enjoy killing him…(Evil Chaos Laughter)…here is the next chapter!!!!**

**Oh and to _Wyrewolf, _I double checked, it is known as the Galactic Federation of Free Alliance in Wookiepedia and I'll see what I can do about the comms.**

------

Inquisitor Robyn Vallace lay in her bed trying to get some sleep, the last few weeks on board the Alliance flagship had been tiring to say the least, suffering her first serious injury since she became an Inquisitor, but she was well looked after by the Alliance healers.

Once discharged from the medbay she returned to looking over the reports on Alliance technology, her main interest was on a healing liquid known as _Bacta_, this healing agent was widely used in their home galaxy and was known to heal almost anything from serious diseases to near fatal injuries. This style of medical treatment, if duplicated could be used all over the Imperium, the treatment could save thousands of lives in the Imperium armed forces and, possibly if she dared to believe it revive important individuals like some of the Primarchs and even the God-Emperor himself.

These possibilities however were far away at the moment, the idea of reviving the Emperor and his few Primarchs looked great on paper but like many things in the real world it was never as easy as it seemed, there were many leaders within the Imperium including several of the High Lords of Terra who loved their places of power and would rather keep the God-Emperor on the golden throne instead of having him revived.

Before she could let her allies on Terra know about the bacta she needed to gain the Alliances and their protector's support, she had just asked for a meeting with the Alliance captains, the Admiral, the Magi and the Jedi master.

She wasn't kidding herself, she knew that she had the resources and the firepower to take the technology by force, but she wasn't that kind of Inquisitor, she was of a much rarer breed that would rather negotiate than have it all down to a gunfight, besides from what she's knows of the Alliance officers they would probably be willing to help anyway.

She was Robyn Vallace, Inquisitor, a member of the _Resurrectionist Faction _of the Inquisition and liaison between the Galactic Alliance and Holy Terra, by the God-Emperor of Mankind she would see this through, but caution was key, one wrong move and powerful enemies can be made and important work can be undone.

------

_She walked down narrow, dark corridors made of black stone, dim lamps lit the passage casting shadows and making the eerie sight even more terrifying, within the darkness she saw the glowing eyes of daemons, monsters of chaos that she had been raised to fear._

_As she continued walking she heard the sounds of gunfire and death screams echo everywhere, forcing herself to ignore them she continued walking, the hums of lightsabres joined the echoes which got louder and louder until she exited the corridor._

_She came to a large chamber made of black stone and lit by the same dull lighting as in the corridor, a massive ruby red crystal lay imbedded in the centre of the chamber adding its chaos tainted light to its surroundings, on the walls were sacrificial pyres, eight pointed stars with the bloodied bodies of people tied to them, some were dead but others were still alive, if only just, their eyes were for what she guessed for the first time in so long had a flicker of hope in them._

_The bodies of Chaos cultists littered the ground, blood pooling out of their disfigured and pale bodies, lasguns and blades still gripped in their hands, from the shadows Daemons pulled dead cultists into the darkness ready to feed on the corpses._

_Forcing herself not to look at the daemons she continued on and saw the energy of lightsabres ahead, elegant crimson, emerald, sapphire and violet blades that blurred from the speeds at which they were being swung, more death screams filled the air but Alana pushed herself onward._

_There were about ten of them, black cloaked figures that's very presence made the Daemons recoil in an unknown fear, their features might have been completely hidden if not for the low light from their lightsabres, ten human men and women._

_They circled around two figures in the centre, both fighting each other in a duel of death, one she recognised immediately as Revan, holding two lightsabres in his hands, one crimson and the other silver, he spun unleashing a terrifying display of blurring blades at his opponent, a Chaos sorcerer, holding a rickety looking staff and encased in the spiked, blood stained armour of Chaos, the sorcerers head visor glowing red as he deflected the attacks that Revan sent._

_But the fight was one sided, Revan was more powerful and completely on the offensive, not even stopping to let the sorcerer catch a breath, but the servant of Chaos jumped backwards, the obscene powers of the warp propelling him and raising his staff unleashed several bolts of warp energy, the beams of dark red light were deflected by the lightsabres, spun so fast that they appeared to be disks made of light, he approached still spinning the lightsabres in his black gloved hands. The chaos sorcerer releasing salvo after salvo of warped doom bolts at him even though it was pointless._

"_You are beaten" Revan said, his voice mechanically amplified "Your armies are dead, your stronghold has fallen and the Imperium will be here within minutes…be still and let me send you to your gods" he threw his red bladed lightsabre at the sorcerer, spinning like a boomerang but the agent of Chaos laughed venomously, ducking the decapitating blade._

"_You think this is the end Revan the Grey" the sorcerer mocked "The dark gods know now of you and your armies presence, you and your children will be hunted to the last and their existence irradiated!"_

_The lightsabre spun around back towards the sorcerer and sliced through his back, the crimson blade exiting through the vile murderer's stomach; surprised the sorcerer fell to his knees as Revan approached him, the lightsabre recalled to his hand._

"_Do you really think that what I have brought with me is all there is vile slave of Chaos" Revan replied as he kicked the staff away "There are other immortals beside myself, both light warriors of the force and of the warp, they remain hidden, waiting for the time when the revival of the first Jedi Masters and the God-Emperor of Mankind is imminent" he swung his blades in a quick motion decapitating the chaos servant before turning to the warriors around him, small explosions could be heard from above "The Imperium is here, save as many of the slaves as you can…but be quick we must leave before they arrive"_

_As the ten warriors departed to free the still living slaves Revan turned in her direction, looking at Alana as if she was here and the young girl heard a voice in her mind utter one word._

…_Galenor…_

Alana woke from her sleep and sat upright, covered in sweet and trying desperately to draw in a breath, she used a force relaxation technique to calm down before she assessed what she had witnessed; the visions were getting more frequent, even going as far as invading her dreams.

What was strange was Revan himself, in the early visions he projected an aura of darkness, fighting an Archon of the Dark Eldar one moment and a Commissar of the Imperial Guard the next, always fighting, always killing, but in later visions he projected an aura of light as he walked down the incredible corridors of an Eldar craftworld with a Farseer of the Biel-Tan or wadding through the crowded markets of a Tau world speaking with an Ethereal, she wasn't even sure if Revan was a he.

But this vision was the most vivid of all the others, there were others there, like him, the revealed truths that there were others like him out there in the galaxy, warriors of the force interested her, but what he said about creatures of the warp who fight with him frightened her, light creatures of the warp, she was sceptical of such an idea. What was the word he spoke to her, Galenor…what was it, a name definitely, but to what or who? She had so many questions that she felt only he could answer, she had to tell Master Sabbath.

But not know, it was late, after a few moments of trying to get back to sleep she gave up and rising from her bed she slipped into her Jedi robes and walked to the desk where the parts of her lightsabre lay, she sat down on the chair and set to work, once more.

Several hours later she carefully set the last part into the lightsabre and closed the hilt before pushing the button, not even a spark, she groaned as the weapon refused to light.

She thought of what master Sabbath had told her before she began, _a lightsabre isn't just a weapon, for it to work you need to put a part of yourself into the blade, it is your weapon, your tool, a piece of yourself, and an extension of your arm._

It finally came to her; she gathered a piece of the force within her and channelled it into the hilt before pushing the button again, a golden blade snapped into existence and she smiled in triumph.

------

As the combined fleet returned to Helios Prime Admiral Halos watched as a swarm of small escort ships rose through the lines of defence satellites and weapon platforms to meet them, the fleet was half its original strength and most of the other half had suffered damage. Thankfully besides the minimum breaches to the _Vigilance _none of the other Star Destroyers had suffered harm.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Inquisitor Vallace walking up beside him, she stood there for a few moments watching as the massive guns and missile launchers of the platforms trail the surviving vessels, small escort _Cobras _and _Swords _surrounded them and took up escort positions.

Once safely behind the defences the Star Destroyers and Mechanicus battleship broke off from the fleet and docked with one of the massive battle-stations.

"I have heard that some of your captains are voicing concerns about a full alliance with us" Vallace said as the Star Destroyer entered the massive docking bay and was caught in the docking clamps, small skull shaped hover drones floated around the hull in their hundreds assessing the small breaches to the ship.

"We know that there are enemies in this galaxy that cannot be reasoned with Inquisitor" Halos said "But from the data that we have gained from you we have read of races in this galaxy that can be reasoned with…the Tau and the Eldar"

"And there have been Inquisitors and other Imperium officers who have tried to tell that to the High Lords" Vallace replied with a sigh "But the fact is that these two empires you speak off have attacked us in the past and although there have been times when we do fight with them it usually degenerates afterwards. I will tell the captains that when the meeting starts"

"Well then shall we go?" Halos asked as he turned to the repulsorlift.

------

As Gabriel and Alana entered the briefing room they saw that the captains were already there arguing with each other over whether or not they should make an alliance with the Imperium, the six officers stopped talking as the Jedi master and his apprentice entered the room.

"So" Gabriel began as he took a seat Alana taking the one next to him, he had decided to show the young girl the different aspects of being a Jedi, one was diplomacy and sadly politics "Who is against an Alliance?"

Hesitantly Mynn, Rosso and Severi raised their hands while Terik, Verge and surprisingly Florn kept them down.

"We have already traded technologies and created hybrids with them" Verge said "Why not take the final step?"

"It is because of the way they do things" Rosso replied "I admit it that during the days of the Galactic Empire we did enslave alien races but we never drove any race that wasn't human to extinction simply because they were an inconvenience"

"Agreed" Severi replied "It's barbaric even by the standards of the empire under Palpatine, the Ssi-Ruuk, even the Yuuzhan Vong"

It was then that Admiral Halos and Inquisitor Vallace entered the briefing chamber, Robyn carrying a small case that within Gabriel guessed had records and more data. As the two took seats Halos looked into each of the faces of the captains and the two Jedi that were present "You know why I have called all of you here, the Inquisitor has something to show you"

Robyn positioned the case on the table and placed her thumb onto a small scanning screen, there was a small flash of green light and the sounds of at least ten locks clicking open, she opened the case and took a couple of data chips out of it "All of you are wondering why we are fighting the Eldar instead of allying with them, one of the major reasons is that the Eldar only take action if their own people are at risk…and they don't care who they have to destroy to do it"

She inserted one of the data-chips into the holo-projector built into the briefing table, a holographic projection of a city world appeared "This planet is known as Armageddon, it's a hive world located ten thousand light years north of Holy Terra, several years ago the Eldar diverted a massive Ork fleet from their territories to this world, too date the Orks threaten to overrun her, it is said that you can see their armies from space as a green tide"

"I can understand why you would declare war against the Eldar" Florn said as he studied the hologram "However I would question your actions against the Tau, wasn't it you that declared war on them?"

"Secretly we were already at war captain" Vallace replied "The Tau were slowly subverting the worlds around their borders, threatening to turn them against the Imperium, we had to act!" she studied the faces of all present "Understand that this galaxy is very different to your own, although you have all seen your fair share of war at least there was small times of peace between them, here the war is never ending and it will not end until only one is left standing"

"Excuse me Inquisitor" Captain Mynn said as she read a datapad "But I am curious about the Exterminatus procedure, if a world is threatening to be conquered then you destroy it"

"Yes we do"

"You would condemn millions, perhaps billions of innocent lives to death" Mynn said in dismay.

"Although I have never ordered an Exterminatus Captain I would if our enemies threaten to take over a world" Robyn replied "Usually when such an order is given the population is mostly either dead or evacuated"

"But according to these you have driven countless alien races to extinction" Terik said as his eyes scanned a datapad screen.

"Many of those alien races would have done the same to us if they had a chance" Vallace replied hotly "Anything that threatens the safety of the Imperium is destroyed, it is similar to what your Galactic Empire did under the rule of Emperor Palpatine"

"Palpatine was a sadistic, xenophobic monster who murdered countless billions just because they were an inconvenience" Verge said, disgusted by that mad mans name "An example of such crimes was the _Destruction of Alderaan_, two billion lives winked out in a instant, the atrocities of the _Great Jedi Purge_ being another!"

"And yet the Galactic Empire would be roughly what the Imperium is know" Vallace replied before noticing master Sabbath flinch "My apologies master Sabbath, I have read on what Palpatine did to the Jedi Order under his rule"

Alana looked over to her teacher quizzically but understood that she should ask about what happened at a later date.

Meanwhile Inquisitor Vallace was taking a breath "I need to explain something to you all…the Imperium was not always what it is know, nearly ten thousand years ago we were under the leadership of the Emperor of Mankind and at that time we had great promise, with the Primarchs and their Space Marine legions he began a Great Crusade to rescue worlds that were cut of by the age of Strife and who were under tyrannical alien control, several other powers including the Eldar were considering joining us…then Warmaster Horus turned traitor, taking half of the armies of the Imperium with him to Chaos, the war was devastating and although we won it was at great cost, the Emperor was mortally wounded and had to be confined to the Golden Throne, the Imperium has been slowly decaying ever since"

"An interesting tale Inquisitor" Gabriel said "However where are you going with this?"

"While I was researching on your medical technology I found that it is vastly superior to our own, your cybernetic limp emplacements are extraordinary, you can clone vital replacement organs quickly but the most interesting piece of medical technology you have is a substance named bacta" Vallace explained "I would wish a trade of bacta to create our own"

"So that you can use this to revive the emperor from his comatose state" Rosso asked "Therefore returning your greatest warlord to power and beginning your crusade of death and genocide anew!"

Inquisitor Vallace clenched her fists in rage, her knuckles turning white "If that were to anyone else but me Rosso you would already be dead, there is a difference between you and I, the Imperium would start a war with your precious Alliance without a second thought and although you may be able to hold your ground for a decade or two eventually you would lose, if the Yuuzhan Vong attacked us their invasion would be stopped dead within a year and we would counterattack them leaving nothing but the charred remains of their fleets and worlds in our wake, if we were threatened by an organisation like the Rebel Alliance we would have destroyed it before it even had a chance to begin, if it were the Separatists we would have crushed their fleets and droid armies under our iron tracks in half the time it took the Old Republic!!!"

"Inquisitor" Halos said firmly "Calm yourself!"

Robyn finally came to her senses and looked around, the captains were still there, each of them looking at her with a mixture of concern and fear, master Sabbath sat there, concern on his face while his apprentice looked scared half to death, taking a deep, calming breath Robyn opened her eyes "My apologies to all but you must understand that we are raised from birth to see the Emperor as a God, the Imperium was not the tyrannical empire you see today, if the Emperor wasn't nearly killed during the _Horus Heresy _then we would have become very much like your Galactic Alliance…I believe that if the Emperor is not returned then the Imperium will slowly get worse until it eventually topples either through a successful enemy invasion or from within"

All of the captains within the room considered this for a time before they glanced back at the Inquisitor, it was surprisingly Rosso who spoke up "What do you wish to trade in exchange for the bacta?"

------

"You are sure?" Gabriel asked as he walked down the corridors, Alana in tow.

"Yes master" Alana replied "The visions are getting more vivid, I feel that if I don't find the source then they will get far worse"

Gabriel considered this for a time before sighing and looking back at his determined young apprentice "What was the name again…I will ask Magi Durin to look it up and we'll see where it goes from there"

The young woman smiled warmly before embracing him "Thank you master"

**So what do you think of that, what will Inquisitor Vallace trade in exchange for the medical technologies, what will Alana and Gabriel do if they find what their looking for…tune in for the next chapter to find out!!!**


	17. A Jedi's Quest

_**Chapter 16**_

_**A Jedi's Quest**_

_"Across the reaches of the Galaxy, through seas of dark stars, rivers of whispering black shadow from the Republic's ancient past. Evil history we had thought forgotten."_

Jedi Master Ooroo on the first Sith Empire.

**------**

By the end of the day Inquisitor Vallace had the information that Gabriel wanted, she entered the briefing room where Gabriel, Alana and Halos were already seated and taking a seat she inserted a datachip into the holo-projector, the image of a planet covered with green jungles and blue seas appeared.

"This is a planet named Galenor" Robyn said as she relaxed into her chair "It is a fairly small out of the way world on the frontier, there is a small colony of three thousand civilians and over five hundred Imperial Guardsmen, not much in the way of space defences"

"Thank you Inquisitor" Sabbath thanked before turning to Alana "Are you sure this is the place"

She nodded "Yes master, I just know that this is it"

"Admiral, do you think you can spare a couple of X-wings?"

The Admiral scanned the planet for a few moments before turning to Robyn "How far away is this world?"

"Around a hundred light years away from Helios" Robyn replied.

"Ill do better than that Master Sabbath" Joseph said "I will place you and your apprentice under the protection of the _Firestorm_, just check this out and return before anything else decides to call us away, understood?"

"Understood Admiral" Gabriel replied.

It was several hours later before the Star Destroyer was ready to go, Mynn seemed relieved to do a simple job and so happily agreed to act as an escort, but they weren't going alone, Vallace had requisitioned a _Mars-class Battlecruiser _called the _Crimson Blaze _and two small _Cobra _escorts named the _Sabre _and _Judge_, all three Imperium ships had been refitted with hyperdrive engines to keep up with Mynn's cruiser.

As the ships soared through hyperspace Alana was in the training chamber trying to get used to her new lightsabre, she swung the energy weapon clumsily, trying to imitate Gabriel's moves and failing miserably.

"Why didn't you tell me you finished your lightsabre?" Gabriel called as he entered the chamber "Wow, wait, don't swing it like that, you'll cut your leg off!"

Alana winced before deactivating her lightsabre and bowing clumsily before her teacher "I'm sorry master"

"If you wanted to learn how to use it you should tell me" Gabriel said "Let me see her"

Alana gave the Jedi master her lightsabre and watched as Gabriel examined it, its hilt was a simple silver cylinder with the marking of an Imperial Eagle imprinted on the cubed bottom, he tossed it several times, testing its weight and catching it expertly before thumbing the activation switch, he spun the gold blade in his right hand a few times before deactivating it and handing it back to his apprentice.

"Very well constructed my young apprentice" Gabriel said with a kind smile "I'm impressed…now do you want to learn how to use it?"

With a glint of excitement in her grey eyes Alana nodded.

"Okay" Gabriel said as he took out his own lightsabre and activated the weapon "I am about to show you a style of lightsabre combat that's ancient name is _Shii-Cho _which is also known as _Form I_, its basic manoeuvres make it the ideal style for beginners who are getting used to their lightsabres"

------

Meanwhile within the confines of the webway Archon Deathstrike watched as the four ships vanished into hyperspace before turning to his scanning officer "For your own sake you better be right about the Jedi and Warlock being on that ship!"

"I am positive my lord" his scanning officer replied, eyeing the Archons power sword.

Deathstrike swung back towards the view screen and growled, the _Cobalt of the Black Heart's _lead Archons had given him a small fleet to pursue these newcomers, but it was considerably smaller than his last fleet, three _Darkness-class _Battleships including his own _Burning Agony _and another five _Torture-class _Cruisers.

"Pursue those ships" he hissed "Keep us within the safety of the webway and activate the Shadow Fields once we return to normal space!"

------

Admiral Halos stood on the command deck of the _Vigilance _with a cup of caf in his hand, he watched as the ships of the Imperium, warships and merchants alike flew across space, he enjoyed watching the display of firepower that was hovering just outside of his view screen because it reminded him of the great _Superiority Fleets_ during the Empires days of glory.

"You allowed the Eldar to accompany the Jedi!" Vallace said heatedly as she stalked up the landing ramp towards the command deck.

"Yes, I was hoping that perhaps they would run into an Eldar vessel that could reunite her with her people" Joseph said uncaringly as he sipped his steaming hot Caf "Besides she isn't safe in Imperium territory"

"I didn't want that witch out of my sight" Robyn said "I don't trust her; she could easily manipulate the Jedi with her mind tricks" Halos laugh stopped the Inquisitor from talking any further as she starred at him, practically fuming "What!"

"You greatly underestimate the Jedi if you think they can be manipulated by simple mind tricks" Joseph said "The Jedi Order mastered that little manoeuvre thousands of years ago and have learned a few immunity techniques, unless you are a Sith Lord you can't manipulate a Jedi Master"

Robyn folded her arms and sighing turned to watch the small swarms of Imperium ships that danced across the massive command deck view ports "You respect the Jedi"

"Of course"

"But you are an Imperial" Vallace replied casually "I have read that your Galactic Empire hunted them to near extinction"

"We did that under Emperor Palpatine's orders" Joseph said remembering those days of glory and fear "There were many Imperial officers including my grandfather who thought that the Jedi would have been a useful force to the Empire, but the objections of the few were ignored and the purge continued" Halos paused for a few moments "My grandfather told me stories of the Jedi of the Old Order when I was young, he spoke of the bravery of his General, a Twi'lek Jedi named _Aayla Secura _and how she always put her life on the line to protect her troops, he told me of the tactical brilliance of _Master Yoda _and of the warriors spirit of _Mace Windu_"

"So it's fate" Robyn said with a wry smile "Your Grandfather fought alongside Jedi and so do you"

"My father was a captain in Darth Vader's Death Squadron" Gabriel said "So its three generations who have fought with force-sensitive beings" he then tore his gaze away from the view to look at the Inquisitor standing beside him "Inquisitor may I ask you a question?"

"Of course"

"What age are you?" he asked, his tone a mixture of curiosity and shyness.

She smiled wryly before shaking her head "A lady doesn't tell her age"

"By my guess I'd say you're twenty-five" Halos guessed.

"Not even close" Robyn replied with a wink "I'm a hundred and twenty"

"Really" Halos said before chuckling.

"I'm serious"

Halos stopped chuckling and looked into the Inquisitors hazel eyes, his own eyes widened in complete disbelief "By the force you aren't kidding"

------

Within the darkness of Galenor's planetary shadow a warship waited, its hull painted black to camouflage it from any close by ships, it had wondered the space ways of this galaxy for thousands of years, visiting thousands of worlds and exploring as yet by the Imperium unexplored regions of this galaxy.

From the command deck of this ancient, heavily modified cruiser a figure stood, his features and form completely hidden by a black cloak, his face concealed by the shadows of his hood, for over four thousand years he had wondered this war strewn galaxy, using stealth to survive countless battles with enemies and patience to create alliances with friends.

There was a flash of light and four warships appeared just outside of the small colony worlds gravity well, the ancient warrior stretched out with the force, searching for anyone on those ships like him and his children, anyone who could harness the force, he found two signatures on the ship that's shape was similar to that of his own, both were strong in the force.

The doors opened and another figure dressed in the same black cloak appeared, but the hood was down revealing what looked like a young woman with shoulder length chocolate brown hair and deep hazel eyes but he knew better, she was one of the eldest of his children at two thousand years old.

"They have arrived father" she said "Just as you said they would"

He nodded before sensing a dark spike in the force, one he knew to well; with a wave of his black gloved hand he summoned the view port to zoom in on the source and snarled when he saw them, Dark Eldar raiders, at least eight ships, they shimmered and vanished before the newcomers could spot them.

His daughter sensed them too and spinning on her heel stalked through the door before issuing the order through the force, he considered that this order was so loud that half of his fellow hidden force-sensitive beings could hear it…he still had to teach her control.

_The Eldar's Dark Kin are here…send them to the warp that they fear!!!_

**I know this chapter was fairly short but don't worry; this is a prelude to a bigger picture. The next chapter is coming…the emperor protects!**


	18. Demons and Saviours

_**Chapter 17**_

_**Demons and Saviours**_

_"We bring only death, and leave only carrion. It is a message even a human can understand"_

Reqhiel of the sons of Fuegan.

------

Galenor was a world of three large green, forest covered landmasses, and small mountains ranges, around the continents were sparkling blue seas that covered the rest of the planet, the world was a beautiful sight but that beauty was just a smokescreen for Galenor was labelled as a _Death World_, its native animals and plants on both the land and the seas were massive dangerous monsters that were said to be able to rip a full groan man in half. The main human population was situated on the northern continent in a city that was protected by thick castle-like walls.

Captain Mynn sat in her throne-like command chair watching as the officers and aides of her bridge were going about their assigned duties, scanning the surrounding system for any sign of other ships, already scouting squadrons of speedy A-wings were spilling out of the Star Destroyers hanger, small groups of _Lightning _and _Thunderbolt _fighters were also being released from the hangers of the _Mars Battlecruiser _and were following suit with their Alliance counterparts.

Standing beside her was the two Jedi she had been assigned to protect, Jedi master Gabriel Sabbath and his young apprentice Alana Varne, the two had their eyes closed, their brows furrowed in concentration, most likely searching through the force for any sign of what they were looking for, The Eldar, Ishta Taldeer, stood slightly behind Mynn's command chair, her form covered by the crescent shaped war helmet and mesh armour.

"Well master Sabbath" Mynn asked as she relaxed into her chair "Anything?"

Gabriel opened his icy blue eyes and smiled "He's very well hidden, I can't sense anyone, but not to worry captain, I'm sure they'll make their appearance in good time" his smile vanished as Gabriel felt a familiar dark presence that's hunger for bringing death and pain made him shiver, the force screamed a warning and Gabriel acted immediately "Shields up!!!"

The shields came up a split second before a small barrage of dark lances smashed into them; Mynn gripped the arms of her captains chair just stopping her from being thrown off, gritting her teeth she glared out at the materializing forms of Dark Eldar warships cutting lose with long red beams of dark lance batteries, the _Cobra _escort _Sabre _was blindsided and received several fatal hits to its engine compartments before the Destroyer could get its shields up, the small ship vanished in a blinding ball of fire and twisted steel.

"Aim carefully" the musical voice of Ishta ordered out to the crew "Try and aim ahead of the ships, if you aim right at them they'll just evade"

The Star Destroyer turned to face the approaching pirate vessels, the _Judge _and _Crimson Blaze _following suit and together they unleashed a withering barrage of weapons fire at the Dark Eldar ships, a _Torture _Cruiser ran right into a storm of turbolaser and lance fire, vanishing in an impressive explosion, the other warships scattered, using their speed and executing nearly impossible dives and climbs, the Imperium ships didn't follow the warlocks advice and their shots missed.

Swarms of small pirate fighters streamed out of the hangers of the dark vessels and dived towards the _Crimson Blaze_, small groups of speeding _Thunderbolts_, _Lightning's _and _A-wings _sped forward to meet them, the two sides clashed and small blooms of fire from missed missiles and exploding fighters could clearly be seen. More starfighters soared from the hangers of the Imperium and Alliance duo, dozens more _Thunderbolts, Lightning's, Marauders, X-wings, Y-wings, Tie Interceptors _and _K-wings _rose up from their respective mother ships like a terrifying swarm to reinforce their comrades.

Another massive flash of light signalled that the _Judge _followed its sister ship to the Immortal Emperor as two _Darkness _Battleships soared on either side of her unleashing a barrage of dark lance and splinter fire.

------

Captain Xavier Zola gritted his teeth as the bridge shook from combined dark lance hits, his own ships powerful weapon systems returned fire but the Eldar vessels were proving their superior manoeuvrability compared to his own craft, dodging the lances and plasma before returning fire with their own weapons.

The Star Destroyer and its Xeno captain were doing better having gotten a kill already and were now duelling with another _Torture _cruiser, the two vessels circled each other firing continuously with their respective weapons but the Eldar's ship was faster and was avoiding the long ranged turbolaser fire, another _Torture _cruiser was zooming towards them, its guns silent, it was planning to sneak up on the Star Destroyer and barrage her at point blanc range, the up close kill.

The idea to warn the alien captain was dispelled from his mind, she and half of her crew were xenos and all aliens were enemies of the Imperium, whether they knew it or not. The Inquisitors warnings that stopped him from firing on that ship himself but maybe the Dark Eldar could do the job for him.

------

"My lord the _Red Death _and the _Succubus Blade _have finished with the inferior escort vessels" his new bodyguard, a male Incubi warrior spoke up "They wish to know whether to attack the wedged vessel or the human Battlecruiser!"

"Have all ships concentrate their fire on the Battlecruiser" Archon Deathstrike replied as he glanced unflinchingly at the bright explosions of doomed fighters that was taking place in front of him "It is the bigger threat. Have the _Fallen Banshee _and _Death scream _continue duelling the smaller vessel, don't let it escape!"

A sudden long, almost razor thin beam of green light flashed past his own ship and collided with the _Succubus Blade_, the lance struck the battleship and stabbed through its light hull all the way through and exited out the other side, the _Blade _sparked before cracking in half through a series of explosions.

Surprised Archon Deathstrike spun to the source of the powerful attack to see a ship appear, slipping through Galenor's planetary shadow as silently as an ambush predator, it was long and wedge shaped, its design similar to the Alliance vessel that his ships were engaging except for the large gun emplacement that seemed to stretch from its pointed front all the way back to the command tower, unlike the Alliance ship it had no terraces, the warship closed in on the battle firing long red lances of energy from strategically placed gun decks.

------

"I think we got his attention" his eldest daughter, Sonya, stated proudly as the view-screen silently zoomed to the burning remains of the pirate battleship.

The cloaked figure nodded as he sat in the throne-like command chair, his hands dancing over the glowing white runes that controlled the view-screen and communication systems "Don't play with the view-screen my dear" he stated sarcastically as the screen reverted back to its original setting, this new image screen was just one of many upgrades that had been added to the old ship over the last four thousand years, in fact the ship had been modified to the point that only its wedge shaped exterior was the only rememberance of the Cruiser it once was, in the days of the _Jedi Civil War _it was known as a _Ravager-class Battlecruiser_.

"Prepare for a micro-jump!" he ordered silently and relaxed as the cruiser jumped into hyperspace and returned to normal space a few moments later alongside its descendent ship, long red beams of modified turbolaser fire lanced out from its portside gun platforms smashing into one of the Eldar cruisers tearing its bow apart in a blaze of red and orange light, the _Torture _started into a slow out of control spin.

From the hanger bay of his cruiser came a group of twelve starfighters, these small, sleek craft were specially designed by him and his allies, they were black in colour with long wings on either side of their slender form. From melded technologies either traded or taken in raids it had the firepower of an Imperium ship yet as fast and able to make the almost impossible turns of an Eldar fighter, yet it kept the design of the old Sith starfighters that were used during the _Jedi Civil War_ eras. These were known to him and his allies as _Shadowhawks_.

As the hawks moved into defensive positions around his ship, known as _Shades of Grey _to those who knew of its existence the old immortal knew that he was safe with them as his escort, after all one of his most trusted sons was the squadron leader.

------

Zola gritted his teeth and grabbed onto the arms of his command chair for support as wave after wave of dark lance fire smashed into the ship finally shattering the void shields and slicing through the thick hull armour.

His ship was taking heavy damage, the Eldar had already smashed gaping hull breaches into his ship, these breaches were belching smoke, unbolted equipment and people into open space, more than a quarter of his weapon decks had been destroyed and his new hyperdrive engine had been disabled by a precise phantom torpedo strike, his warship wasn't going down without a fight however as his weapon salvos managed to connect with another _Torture _Cruiser causing it to explode in a ball of fire. That left two battleships and two strike cruisers left.

He saw one of the _Darkness's _unleash a barrage of dark lances and phantom torpedoes at his know exposed bridge, sighing he muttered a silent prayer to the Immortal Emperor before his bridge and himself was consumed by dark fire.

------

Ishta scanned the holographic projection of the battle taking place around them, the _Crimson Blaze _turned from amber to red and finally winked out of existence, with the last Imperium vessel gone that just left these two Star Destroyers, although she wasn't even sure if the new warship was in the same class as the one she was on.

The new vessel lined up on a _Torture _Cruiser and fired a long, thin beam of light from its spinal super-gun; the thin beam of green energy connected with the cruiser and tore it apart.

"Captain" one of the ensigns yelled from the crew pit "The unknown vessel is hailing us!"

She glanced over at Mynn, the Togruta female nodded her understanding and rose from her chair, the holographic image of a humanoid appeared beside the battle hologram in front of them, his entire form concealed in a black cloak, the large hood up over his head, a bronze and silver mask visible on his face.

"Your galaxy knew me as Revan" the figure said, his voice amplified by the mechanics of his arcane mask "I realize you may have questions but may I ask you withhold them until this battle is over?"

Mynn nodded her agreement "I understand"

"Is your ship capable of micro-jumping captain?" Revan asked.

"Yes"

"Then listen carefully"

------

Archon Deathstrike watched as the two remaining ships of his enemy got into some kind of a combat formation facing his four remaining warships, the battle had been more costly than he might have liked but if he could get one of those ships then it would be worth it "Disable both ships if you can!" he ordered sharply.

He watched as his ships shot forward at an incredible speed straight towards the last two vessels and as they got closer Deathstrike flashed a smile of pure venom, he didn't care how many of his fellows died here, as long as he would be the one to kill Taldeer's child, as slowly and agonisingly as he could, then he would go after the Jedi and take his lightsabre as a trophy.

His smile vanished as the two ships vanished in a flash of bright light, he scanned the area for a split second before jumping back in surprise, the two cruisers reappeared right in front of the _Burning Agony _and cut lose with a withering barrage of weapons fire, the _Death Scream _was caught completely by surprise as its front bulged and detonated, the _Bloody Victim _took several hits and was cracked into three flaming pieces, the _Red Death _took several hits but executed a steep climb avoiding the main bombardment before turning and vanishing into the webway, leaving the Archon to his fate.

Growling the Archon and several of his Incubi warriors activated their teleporters and disappeared in a flash of blue light before the _Burning Agony _was encompassed by red and green fire from the two Star Destroyers combined firestorm, and was blown to a hundred burning pieces.

The Archon reappeared within the bridge of the _Firestorm _and drawing his Punisher blade ran it through a Mon-Keigh's chest, spurting red blood over his dark armour, at least four of his six Incubi had managed to teleport into the ship with him and were tearing through several unsuspecting crewmen.

Gabriel spun on his heel and threw his lightsabre decapitating a Dark Eldar warrior before the Incubi could run his power sword through a surprised Mynn, Alana unclipped her lightsabre and activated the blade in time to parry an attack aimed at Ishta's back, the Warlock spun around, telekinetically throwing her shuriken pistol into her outstretched hand and riddled the second Incubi with small bolts of white light before looking down to see Archon Deathstrike cutting through a Stormtrooper. He saw her and jumped up to the command deck, punisher blade aimed at her. She just jumped out of the way before aiming her shuriken, the small pistols barrel was sliced through by the bloodied blade and a stiff kick to her gut nearly threw her off the command deck.

An honour guardsman charged up the command deck towards the Archon, a Force Pike in his hands, he thumbed it on and raw blue electricity encompassed the blade, he swung the weapon and missed the Archon by a hairsbreadth before being run through by the pirate Eldar's punisher sword, the elegant weapon sliced through his blue and silver power armour and straight through, exiting his back. Smiling sadistically the Archon spun unleashing a powerful kick into the stomach of the strange alien who he considered to be the captain, she fell backwards dropping the arcane pistol she held.

Half way down the command deck Alana jumped out of the way as an Incubi warriors swung for her and nearly lost her footing on the edge of the decking, she held her lightsabre shakily and just parried an attack by the elite warrior before a powerful force push shoved him of the command deck, landing in the crew pits below on his head and shattering his neck. Gabriel swung around and his emerald blade meet the Archons punisher blade, the Dark Eldar warrior broke off his attack and jumping into the air lashed out with his foot, catching the Jedi master in the head and sending him spinning across the floor before landing roughly on the metal decking.

Ishta staggered back to her feet and grabbing the downed force pike raised it in time to meet the Archons blade, the pike was heavy and difficult to fight with, the Archon circled around her, his face set in a sickening grin. Suddenly Alana charged forward, trying to get the Dark Eldar's attention, he jumped backwards, barely missing the golden blade and landed a blow from his armoured fist into the side of the young humans face, sending her flying backwards, Ishta took the chance and drove the pike through the Archons side, he sputtered and looked at her with burning hatred, light red blood trickling from his stab wound as he aimed his blade for her, dropping the force pike she rolled out of the way just barely missing the blade, cutting through her mesh armour and nicking her arm. She grabbed the next thing she could get her hands on and found the captains blaster pistol, he loomed over her, blood trickling from his mouth, his eyes full of madness and hatred, he dived for her with his blade, she raised the pistol and squeezed the trigger, two blaster bolts shot into Deathstrikes chest killing him, but in his death throes he managed to stab the blade into her shoulder drawing a pained cry from the young Eldar.

The Archons limp body was pulled off of her and she looked into the worried blue eyes of Gabriel "You alright"

She nodded between pained groans and ragged breathing, she closed her eyes, saying weakly "Just let me rest for a few moments"

He managed a small smile before leaving her and going to check on his apprentice who had gotten back to her feet, a hand on her bruised check, he gently took her hand away to inspect it, he smiled before patting her shoulder "You'll be fine, just take it easy for a while"

"I was useless" she managed.

"Hey, you kept them busy and saved Ishta's life" Gabriel said seriously "Just remember that you're a student and you're still learning"

The young girl managed a nod before he looked over to see Mynn, dragging herself to her command chair to answer the call from Revans warship; waving away the offer of help from the medics who were know swarming around the bridge treating the injured, he grimaced as he felt a pain in his ribcage, that kick may have bruised a few ribs, he opened himself to the force and let its healing energies flow through him, numbing the pain and slowly healing his wounds.

------

The old shuttle was reminiscent of the empires _Lambda _shuttles as it hovered into the hanger bay, its wings folding up as it settled onto the decking, several Stormtrooper squads stood at attention to the left of the ramp way with a squad of Honour Guard right in front of them.

The ramp lowered and as it settled onto the deck it steamed sending wisps of cold white smoke into the air, obscuring the ramp to the point where the Alliance officials could only see the outlines of the visitors who were descending the ramp, only Mynn, Gabriel and Alana, beaten up and bandaged were the only Alliance officers fit enough to greet them.

The first to come down was Revan, dressed in a black cloak with the hood up over his head, he wore the same mask that he was famous for wearing, beneath the cloak Gabriel could just make out bronze and silver armour with black fatigues underneath, on his armoured waist was two lightsabre hilts, one looked like it was carved out of twisted wood while the other was a silver hilt, embroidered with gold and red engravings. Standing beside him was what looked like a young woman with shoulder length chocolate brown hair, unblemished pale skin and deep, mischievous hazel eyes, she wore the same black cloak, the hood down across her slender shoulders and was encased in what looked like Eldar mesh armour adapted to fit a humans frame, gold and silver in colour, she had a simple silver lightsabre, ancient black runes etched into its hilt.

"I am guessing that my message got through to you" Revan said quietly as he stopped in front of them, holding out a leather, black gloved hand, Mynn took it and shook it, Gabriel and Alana followed suit, he stopped in front of the young girl before bowing deeply, catching her by surprise "I apologise for putting you through that my dear, the visions were meant to be picked up by the most powerful force sensitive and I thought it would be your master"

Alana blushed slightly before bowing in return to her superior "Its alright, they weren't to bad"

He nodded in return before turning to the young woman "This is my daughter and second in command Sonya" she bowed in return, not uttering a word "Know Gabriel Sabbath, Jed Master, we have much to discuss"

**So what do you think? I feel that I rushed the writing of this chapter a bit, anyway I'm not sure if I should continue here, go to Halos or continue with the Yuuzhan Vong…what do you all think I should do?**


	19. Escape and the Green Tide

**_Chapter 18_**

**_Escape and the Green Tide_**

_"We've run into scorpions the size of battle-tanks, three men died of Eyerot last week, I've sweat enough to fill a lake, my boots got sucked into a sink-swamp and the trees are so thick in places, you can't squeeze between them. Emperor help me, I love this place! It's just like home!"_

Captain Rock of the Catachan I 'Green Devils', on the Death World Varestus Prime

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Supreme Commander Yim starred from the bridge of his flagship, surveying the massive disk of rippling blue energy that was in front of him, he had heard from his fellows where this rip between galaxies led and his warrior's blood boiled with the promise of a fresh crusade. Already his entourage of vessels were moving through the gate, slipping through the blue light as if they were slipping through shadows.

He had to move quickly however, his scouts had reported that a large Alliance fleet was forming up just outside of the system, preparing to make an assault on his forces; they had to depart this galaxy before they arrived and close the worm hole before the infidels saw them.

He was no fool, he knew of the possibility that the Alliance could get here before they could exit the galaxy so he had set up several squadrons of cruisers and escorts to keep them at bay; they would be the last to leave.

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The modified _Imperial _Star Destroyer _Mon Mothma _dropped out of hyperspace within the clusters of warships ranging from the dagger-shaped Star Destroyers to sleek Mon Calamari Star Cruisers, swarms of smaller escort ships surrounded them from hammer-headed _Tantive _Corvettes to Dreadnought Cruisers, Assault Frigates and _Victory-class _Star Destroyers.

From the command deck of the _Mon Mothma _General Wedge Antilles watched as the vessels formed up around his Star Destroyer, this fleet, although impressive was just half of the main assault force, there was another force from the Imperial Remnant under the command of a recently reinstated Admiral Daala, waiting patiently at the other side of the system for the sign to attack.

Soundlessly he sat in his command chair and surveyed the battle-group one last time before turning to his aide "Make the jump, alert Admiral Daala's strike force!"

Wedge relaxed into his chair and watched the fascinating display of star lines streaking across the main view-screen as his flagship and the fleet under his command jumped to light-speed, next stop, Nal Hutta.

As his fleet exited hyperspace a few minutes later they came under attack from a squadron of six _Matalok _Cruisers, the 1.2km long cruisers were vaguely the same shape as a Mon Calamari Cruiser and no less deadly as they bombarded his newly arrived force at a distance with long range plasma projectors. Wings of dart shaped Corralskippers escaped from their hangers and zoomed through the airless void of space towards the fleet.

From the other side of the system blooms of explosions and tiny lines of turbolaser and plasma fire could be seen, Admiral Daala's own force had arrived and had meet a similar reception, the Yuuzhan Vong had expected them, Antilles would have expected no less from a veteran like Supreme Commander Yim.

Flashes of long emerald and crimson energy beams signalled that his capital ships were returning fire; wings of starfighters flew out of the hangers of every ship capable of holding them and swarmed to meet the smaller number of Corralskippers.

"Order Commodore Brask to take his squadron and flank them on the right" Wedge ordered briskly to his communicators, the _Mon Mothma _entered firing range and opened up with long range turbolasers, answering the challenge of the Mataloks.

From his side view-port Wedge saw Brask's Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, _Steadfast_, lead a small group of Dreadnought Cruisers and a streamlined, tower-less _Defender _Star Destroyer to the right, encircling the Yuuzhan Vong force, bombarding them with their weapons, one of the Mataloks screamed silently as it detonated in a bright flash.

From Nal Hutta Wedge saw a larger group of warships scramble into a battle line and approach the skirmish; it was then that the Alliance General saw the worm hole, a small circle of blue light, clearly visible in the darkness of space.

"I want a full scan on that anomaly" Wedge ordered.

"It's a worm hole sir" his scanning officer yelled from the crew decks a few moments later, another Matalok flashed out of existence under the fire of his taskforces guns.

------

From the other end of the worm hole Supreme Commanders Carr, Hurkk, Shai and Orrai starred at the swarms of fireflies as they painted a picture of the battle unfolding at the other side of the gateway, the infidels had attacked from two separate areas, and the tactics told them that at least one of the commanding officers was the Corellian, Wedge Antilles.

"Tell Yim to be quick" Shai ordered to the warriors at the other end of the chamber "We close the worm hole in ten minutes whether he's through or not!"

"Agreed" Hurkk said with a long hiss from ragged lips "Our campaign with the foolish infidel Tau is progressing as planned and we cannot afford an Alliance battle-group knocking at our front door!"

"Especially if it is the human Wedge Antilles leading the charge" Orrai replied with a snarl, still remembering the disastrous battle at Borleias, the battle was recorded as a victory but the human and his fleet made them pay for the planet in rivers of their own blood, killing several of their most veteran warriors including the then Warmasters father, Czulkang Lah.

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Admiral Daala sat in her command chair, her long molten copper hair falling in cascades down the back of her chair, with her right hand she pulled her long bangs away from her delicate features as her Star Destroyer, _Bahamut_, pounded the Matalok cruisers with its long ranged turbolaser batteries, all around her was at least twelve _Imperial _Star Destroyers adding their considerable firepower to that of their flagship, tearing the last Yuuzhan Vong cruiser apart.

With a smirk on her red lips she ordered her ships to advance further into the system, their long ranged weapons firing continuous streams of light at a large cluster of Vong vessels that were flying towards her, her smirk turned into a smile before raising her slender right hand, signalling the fighters to launch, hundreds of Tie fighters flew from the hangers including next generation Tie Defenders, Raptors and Interceptors, they soared through the vacuum of space and meet the Corralskippers head on, both fighter swarms tearing into each others ranks, small blooms of explosions signalled either missed salvoes or destroyed fighters.

"Order Captain Monroe to take three Star Destroyers of his choice and micro-jump to just outside of the planets gravity well, flank them and make them split their forces!" she ordered crisply.

At once Monroe's Star Destroyer, _Judicator_, and three others turned to the planet and micro-jumped, they reappeared just outside of Nal Hutta's gravity field, directly behind the Yuuzhan Vong flotilla approaching her force and opened fire destroying a rear 2km long heavy cruiser.

The Imperial Admiral managed a tight smile as the Yuuzhan Vong split their forces in half to engage Monroe's strike team, one down, and seven to go.

------

Supreme Commander Yim watched as the last ship slipped through the worm hole before looking back at the battle, the Alliance fleets had broken through his hastily placed defences and were approaching the worm hole at full speed, scattering the last few surviving vessels in their wake.

He managed a smile before ordering his worldship through the worm hole, once he went through the rippling entrance closed leaving the Alliance behind, from the bridges of the _Mon Mothma _and the _Bahamut_,General Antilles and Admiral Daala both breathed silent curses of frustration at letting Yim escape again.

------

As Supreme Commander Yim stalked through the ancient corridors of one of the oldest surviving worldships of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride that he was walking down the corridors that many of his peoples greatest warriors had walked down several hundred years ago, before they left their home galaxy, before they lost their galaxy-spanning empire to an unknown source, before their journey through the void between galaxies for hundreds of years.

He stalked to the great double-doors and shoved the great, heavy structures open seeing the command chamber of the worldship, its dark red walls pulsing with the life force of this living moon, in the centre of the chamber were millions upon millions of fireflies, flying in perfect synchrony with each other showing the surrounding systems of this new haven.

"Ah Supreme Commander Yim" Carr said from the side of the fireflies display, smacking his clawed hand against his armoured chest in salute "Welcome"

"Thank you" Yim said as he duplicated the salute, several more thumbs showed that the other three Supreme Commander within the chamber were doing the same "Lets just get down to it, shall we?"

The other four nodded in agreement before bringing his attention to the almost artistic display, explaining to him the many enemies of this new galaxy and of their plans "A sound strategy Supreme Commanders" he said after being told of the situation.

Hurkk, the oldest warrior among them nodded "We have been attacking the Tau's western quadrant for weeks now through raids and piracy, determining their strengths and weaknesses on the field of battle; we are now planning a major strike on the Tau"

"But there are other threats in this sector" Yim said "What of these other empires; are there any chances they will act in the Tau's defence?"

"The idea is laughable" Commander Orrai said "The neighbouring empires have been fighting each other for a long time, they very rarely make alliances and when they do they only last as long as the actual battle and usually break down violently afterwards"

------

Meanwhile several systems away a massive force of Ork space-hulks were flying clumsily through space, their hulls were bulky and uneven, made of the scavenged remains of destroyed or abandoned ships, the exhausts of their engines billowing smoke and flame looking like they were leaving great scars across the fabric of space in their wake.

At the head of this ugly fleet of space-hulks Warboss Glorgan of the Evil Suns Clan watched through the oil stained window screen of the dark and damp bridge of his Kroozer at the strange colours of the warp as the area around his ships twisted, turned and bended from its great and terrible energy, his boyz were restless, too long had they gone without a proper fight, too long had they gone without a proper Waaagh!!!

The frail Eldar had kept them at bay for some time, creating civil war and infighting among his boyz, killing any of the chiefs who looked like they were gaining power within his clans, but not Glorgan, the frail witches failed to kill him and he made them pay for it, their heads hanging from his pointy sticks, dug into the metal ground of his bridge.

He was going to the Tau, they were always a challenge, he and his boyz would attack them and leave their worlds in ruins, building his name as the new great Warboss in this sector, challenging anyone who thought they could beat him and his boyz in a fight, he would add their heads to his pointy stick and finally he and his boyz would have the Waaagh they had dreamed of for yearz.

Well hidden in the shadows of the Ork warship a set of sparkling emerald green eyes scanned the green-skinned primitives and felt like convulsing in disgust, being among these primitive life forms made him very uneasy and his passion to kill every one of them for what they had done to his fellow Rangers was almost enough to make him arm his sniper rifle and begin firing.

But he kept his passions under control, if one of his race was driven by such emotions their life would be very short, he needed to find out where these primitives were going, he needed to get word back to his Craftworld, Biel-Tan and inform them that the Orks were on the move and whether or not the _Swordwind_ should be unleashed.

------

The warrior ran through the great doors of the worldships command chambers, skidding to a halt before the five surviving Supreme Commanders of his race, he fell to a knee and hit his free hand against his armoured chest in salute before holding out a communications Villip with his other. As Supreme Commander Carr took the living communicator he stroked it gently and it slowly opened, wisps of dark mist rising from within, slowly forming the scarred, tattooed features of a warrior.

"My lords" the misty image greeted, his voice so quiet that it sounded like a ragged whisper "There are multiple contacts outside of the system, from the engine outputs they appear to be poorly kept craft of metal, they appear to be primed to travel through our haven, time of arrival is roughly six hours!"

"Thank you Commander Skoore" Carr nodded before turning to his fellow Supreme Commanders "Gather the battle-groups, it looks like we're going to war early!"

His fellows nodded in agreement "Recall the nineteenth and fifth raiding fleets from their patrols, alert Battle-group _Yun-Q'aah _that they will taste blood!!!"

------

Supreme Commander Orrai watched with pride as the defensive forces of _Tricksters Blessing _formed up flawlessly around the planet and the dozen orbiting worldships, over a thousand warships of different shapes and sizes gathered in several clusters, the Supreme Commander was at the front of this impressive defence force, on board his own flagship, the _Cries of Death_, a 8km long battleship known as a _Kor Chokk_ which looked more like a space station than a warship, but looks can be deceptive, several domes connected by short, spinal walkways, hundreds of spines protruded from the Yorrik-Corral hull in small clusters, hundreds of plasma projectors and dozens of lava torpedo tubes were scattered across the Yorrik Corral armoured hull of this powerful and ancient warship.

The Dovin Bassal mines were in place and at full strength, projecting a gravity field the size of a small planet, these Orks were supposed to be blood-thirsty combatants and once his own warriors were told they were yelling bloodcurdling, ancient war-cries and shouted prayers of thanks to the God of War, Yun-Yammka.

His forces waited patiently for three hours until the Orks passed by the system, the Dovin Bassals activated instantly throwing the smoking wrecked vessels of the green-skins unceremoniously back to real space, at once his vessels surged forward, spewing out steady streams of Corralskipper fighters and firing brilliant salvoes of plasma, The _Cries of Death_ showed off its arsenal by dispensing powerful plasma streams from its several hundred plasma projectors, clusters of lava torpedoes were fired from several dozen weapon tubes at the front and sides of the great battleship streaking across the space between the two fleets.

The cobbled together abominations that the Orks used for travel were a truly repulsive sight, making the Supreme Commander snarl in disgust, the Alliance may have used similar abominations to travel the stars but at least they were presentable, impressive vessels. As the fire fight continued Orrai saw that these ships, while lacking finesse were quite the durable vessels, taking the impressive bombardments of his ships. But even the most durable vessel can take only so much and several smaller Ork wrecks succumbed to the continuous bombardment, cracking open and spilling the green-skins within out into space.

------

Warboss Glorgan roared in anger and grabbing a nearby Ork with his metal clawed hand smashed him against the wall of the bridge, using the unfortunate warrior as a bat to work of his frustrations, by the time he was finished the Ork slumped to the decking, every bone in its muscled form crushed.

Who were these things attacking his boyz, humies, Eldar, Tau Bluies. As he crashed his armoured fist into a console, leaving a massive fist print in the metal the rugged form of his Kroozer turned to confront his attackers, sleek ships, hundreds of them surrounding one world and a number of smaller moons, they weren't there the last time he had crossed this system, but that was a long time ago.

"Alright boyz" he shouted into the mic a little too loudly "Its time for fightin" within the confines of his ship he heard the battle-cries of thousands of his boyz, the dim thuds of metal on metal as they hit their blunt blades of the corridor walls.

The Ork ships began crashing forward; firing their big, hastily put together guns in a ragged yet impressive display of firepower against the strange, sleek ships that were arrayed against them.

From the shadows the Eldar ranger moved stealthily through the dank confines of the Orkish cruiser, using his chameleon cloak to keep him hidden from the primitive, worked up Ork warriors, his small ship was hanging from the uneven hull of this unstable vessel and the sooner he got off this wretched wreck the better.

------

His warriors were restless, even from the bridge he heard the collective, unanimous thuds of amphistaff's hitting of the living floor in a steady beat, his brethren were ready to fight, they craved to fight, it was like an addiction that ran through every true warriors blood driving them on and on and making them some of the deadliest creatures on a battle field.

The small Ork fleet was slowly moving closer and closer but their inferior numbers were showing, one by one these repulsive vessels were succumbing to the Yuuzhan Vongs brilliant assault but it wasn't completely one sided, several small Yuuzhan Vong escorts detonated under the Orks weapons and an Uro-ik v'alh battleship took several hits in vital areas, drifting out of the Vong formations and detonating a few moments later.

In the space around the Yuuzhan Vong battle-group swarms of Corralskippers dueled with the large, cumbersome, ugly gunships and fighters of these Ork beasts and winning, using their superior speed and numbers to dismantle the more powerful ships.

"The warriors may launch" the Supreme Commander ordered.

------

Thousands of small living ships rushed out of the openings of the Yuuzhan Vong, rushing forward with incredible speed and slamming into the hulls of the already shredded warships started to drill their way through, once through they opened up and droves of warriors poured out into the surviving warships, in response the entire compliment of Orks ran to the insertion points.

As the first wave of Yuuzhan Vong warriors swarmed into the main cruiser they saw massive creatures twice the size of an average human and much bulkier, their green skin was leathery in appearance with massive muscles bulging with scars and mechanical implants where limps once were, they roared childish battle cries and waved blunt swords, knives and very grubby guns.

The two massive clusters of warriors clashed, amphistaff's and blunt blades were severing limps and leaving great wounds, warrior Drel spun his amphistaff over his head, his dark eyes alive with primal rage, he drove his living weapon into the massive skull of one of the green-skinned Orks, the wait was worth it.

The warriors of the Yuuzhan Vong and the Ork creatures were well mixed in now, slicing, hacking and cutting each other to shreds. Both sides were not backing down and the dead were starting to pile up in the corridors. Several Ork warriors rounded a corner in front of Drel's squad, massive metal machines latched to their backs and huge, grimy guns held in their hands, the lead Ork smiled showing jagged teeth and unleashed a near deafening salvo of weapons fire.

"I love da sound of mi shoota" he screamed with joy, his form skidding backward slightly from the power he was letting loose "Don't you!!!"

Several Yuuzhan Vong warriors fell under the firepower of these new arrivals, gapping holes in the unprotected areas of their armour, with a snarl of repulsion at the abominable metallic weapons the few surviving warriors dived for cover and grabbed handfuls of razor bugs, they screamed a war cry and threw the deadly barrage of living projectiles at the laughing Orks.

The laughs of half of them were cut short as the razor bugs smacked into them, slicing right through their muscled forms and spurting fountains of green blood all over the already blood stained, body riddled floor. The corridors echoed with the bloodthirsty laughs and war cries of both the Yuuzhan Vong and the Orks.

------

Warboss Glorgan stood like an impenetrable wall within his bridge, a small force of large Nobs and other Ork warriors around him. The massive blast door at the other side of the wide bridge exploded inward, spewing shrapnel across the deck, from the smoke came a single warrior, his grey skin covered in festering scars and swirling black tattoos, encased in spiked armour and casually holding its long weapon in its hand.

He looked at Glorgan and smiled, showing lacerated lips and needle sharp teeth, he raised his weapon over his head and screamed a war cry in a language that he didn't know before charging, other larger warriors, similarly scarred and tattooed warriors followed him through the smoke.

Smiling the Warboss screamed a war cry and charged, his boyz in tow and meet the warriors in the centre of the bridge, cutting and hacking at each other with their weapons, the few consoles that weren't already fried were torn to pieces under the weapons fire and melee weapons of both sides.

The Warboss swung his clawed arm and stabbed through one of the warriors, skewering him and lifting the creature of the ground, threw him across the chamber with a sickening thud as he crashed into the far wall.

The lead warrior charged the great Warboss and sunk his amphistaff into the armoured gun of Glorgan, the weapon exploded taking the Orks arm with it and the Warboss screamed in anger, swinging his last good arm at the warrior who maimed him but failed to hit a target.

The Ork leader scanned the battlefield, grabbing one of the alien warriors as he ran by and cut him in half with his claw. A volley of projectiles hit him from behind and dug into his back, the Warboss screeched and swung around to face the heavily scarred warrior who looked at him sneering before charging, the staff spinning over his head so fast it almost looked like a disc.

As the big Ork swung for him the warrior ducked and drove the amphistaff through its abdomen, spewing green blood, the green-skinned monster looked down at him with blood shot eyes before driving down his claw, the warrior dived out of the way of the crushing blow and swung the bladed half of his weapon, slicing through the metal armour and spurting out more green blood and metal. The Warboss convulsed and tried one last time to take the warrior with him to death but the smaller creature was too fast and jumped out of the way, throwing more projectiles into the Warbosses face, shredding through the metal jaw and upper face, killing him.

The warrior of the Yuuzhan Vong stood over the lead Orks carcass, his amphistaff held casually with his right hand, swinging slightly forward and backward. He was no normal warrior, he was a _Slayer_, a warrior genetically changed by the shapers to be stronger, sharper and faster than any other warrior in the vast armies of the Yuuzhan Vong, trained and shaped by the best to fight the greatest rivals to the veteran warriors, including the Jedi Knights.

These Orks had fought well, for infidels and bloodthirsty savages they had been worthy challenges for the Yuuzhan Vong warrior castes and deep in his soul the Slayer hoped he would have the honour of challenging these creatures again.

Outside of the ship, hovering silently at the edge of the system, a small Eldar craft floated, within its confines was the ranger, the outcast was watching the battle with interest, he had escaped the crude Ork construction with his hidden scouting craft and watched as these strange aliens tore the Ork forces apart, he had to contact his Craftworld, the Farseers and the members of the Council of the Young King had to be informed of this new possible threat.

**What do you think? if I got the Ork ships wrong let me know. The Yuuzhan Vong have escaped from the Alliance and just won a victory against a major power in the galaxy, but what will happen when the Eldar know of their existence? Reviews Please!!! **


	20. Plans of Revival

_**Chapter 19**_

_**Plans of Revival**_

"_There are dark places in the Galaxy where few tread. Ancient centers of learning, of knowledge. But I did not walk alone. To be united by hatred is a fragile alliance at best. But my will was not law. There were disagreements, ambition… and hunger for power. There are techniques within the Force against which there is no defense. I was cast down, stripped of my power, exiled. I suffered indignities, and fell into darkness._"

Darth Traya, Sith Lord of Betrayal

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The beeping of her communications unit spurred Robyn's eyes open, she sat up in her bed and slipping into a set of robes to hide her undergarments walked over to the comm. and hit a few buttons on the device. A holographic image of a human male appeared in front of her, his face was old and weathered with long, silvery-grey hair, leathery skin and sharp dark blue eyes.

"Inquisitor Vallace" he said, nodding formerly to the young woman.

"Inquisitor Silvermaine" Vallace replied bowing formerly to the much older Inquisitor, Silvermaine was one of the oldest known Inquisitors in the Inquisition, no one knew his real age but many Inquisitors of the Resurrectionists thought of him to be perhaps thousands of years old.

"What news do you have for me Inquisitor" the old man asked "It better be important!"

"It is Inquisitor" Robyn replied "As you know I have been assigned by the Lord Inquisitor to be the liaison between the Imperium and the GA to survey their technologies and define their uses to the survival of humanity"

"I am aware Inquisitor" the old man said "What have you found out on their technology"

"The Alliances medical technology is impressive however there is one thing that stands out, a healing liquid known as Bacta which has the ability to heal the most serious wounds and cure the worst illnesses"

"You aren't serious?" Silvermaine asked in slight disbelief.

"I am very serious Inquisitor" Robyn replied patiently "And in the proper quantities I believe that this fluid can restore the Emperor to what he was before the Horus Heresy, he will require full submersion in the liquid but I have run tests and the results are conclusive" she took out a datachip, inserted it into the communications console and pushed several runes "I am now sending the data to you"

Silvermaine was silent for several moments as the data arrived at his location and he scanned over the results "Well done my old apprentice, I will send word of this to our allies on Terra"

"There is one problem with the Bacta" Robyn managed "It is made from fairly rare synthetic chemicals including gelatinous, translucent red alazhi and kavam bacterial particles mixed within a colorless, viscous liquid called ambori, I have done many tests on these materials and found that although it can be duplicated there are probably only a hand full of worlds, if any at all who can supply it"

"It would probably take decades to find the materials that are needed for this liquid" Silvermaine said in annoyance as he scanned the list of ingredients.

"The Alliance ships have a massive supply of Bacta" Robyn ventured "I think we can negotiate with them to give us a large enough supply of Bacta to heal the Emperor"

"Do you think they will just give us the Bacta" Silvermaine asked skeptically, obviously thinking of taking it by force.

"I have already agreed to an exchange" Robyn said, smiling triumphantly at thinking a step ahead of her old mentor "The bacta for our own teleportation technology"

"That is one of our most vital technologies" Silvermaine warned.

"So is the Bacta to the Alliance" Robyn countered mildly "They wouldn't agree to anything less"

"Very well" the older Inquisitor conceded hesitantly "I will make contact with our allies On Terra, they will inform the honored Lord Inquisitor of the High Lords"

"You'd best be quick" Robyn said softly "The Magi is sending the same message to the Fabricator General"

"We must tread carefully on this one Robyn" Silvermaine said after a few moments of thought "There are powerful people on Holly Terra who would rather keep the Emperor incapacitated on the Golden Throne than have him walk among his people again"

"I know of the risks but I think the end result will be worth the danger, besides" Robyn said as her smile turned venomous "If these individuals do send their agents we are more than capable of defending ourselves"

------

Gabriel was still getting over the idea that there was a legendary, four thousand year old Jedi, or Sith sitting across the table from him, Revan wore more or less the same black robes and mask that he was known for wearing, standing behind him was his daughter, her hazel eyes in a state of alertness, sitting next to Gabriel at the other side of the circular table was Captain Mynn who was as surprised by the old warrior as Gabriel was and finally Alana who was asked to be here by Revan himself.

"The first question you will be asking would be how I am here?" Revan asked calmly as he leaned against the chair.

"Yes sir" Gabriel said, his tone showing nothing but respect, although history on the Old Republic eras was limited thanks to Palpatine he knew enough about Revan that he left the Order as a Jedi Knight.

"After the Jedi Civil War I left for the unknown regions with a small force of my most trusted fellows to find the 'True Sith' and stop them from invading the galaxy" Revan began "When my fleet found them we fought them and chased them through a worm hole, but sadly they took us with them and we ended up in this galaxy. Once through my fleet was within the most nightmarish place ever imagined, a place I thought was the Chaos region of the netherworld, it was only later that I learned its true name…the _Eye of Terror_"

"You can't be serious human" Ishta said as she walked into the briefing room, still wearing her psycho-plastic armored suit, the bacta rap just visible around her wounded shoulder, she walked to the Alliances side of the table and sat down "No one has ever entered the Eye of Terror and escaped alive"

"But I have young Eldar" Revan retorted softly, the pain evident in his voice "I lost my entire fleet in that living hell, only my ship escaped and that was only by a hairsbreadth. I saw many horrific things, daemons appearing all over my ship, tearing my troops apart and burning them alive, even my fellow Jedi Knights started to fall to their never-ending numbers. After our costly escape we came across Cadia and asked the Imperium for help, we were repelled and only just escaped because of our hyperdrive, and we went into hiding after that"

"It does make some sense" Gabriel conceded "But how are you still alive, even sentient beings powerful in the force could only live for so long"

"While we were in hiding myself and the few surviving Jedi remained on Galenor and began relearning the ways of the force" Revan replied "Our run in with the warp and the forces of Chaos made us drastically rethink our views, we submerged ourselves in the force and spent many years relearning what we thought we knew. We were patient and so unlocked many interesting abilities, an example of this would be the ability to stop ones self from aging"

"Amazing" Gabriel breathed "I knew that the force had the ability to heal someone and rejuvenate lost strength but this is on a different level"

"You have brought us here for a reason" Alana said seriously "I can sense it"

"Perceptive" Sonya said, Gabriel noticed it was the first word she had said since arriving on the _Firestorm_.

"You are right my dear" Revan replied "And one of the main reasons is because of you"

"Me?" Alana asked, the young girl slightly taken aback "Why me"

"Because my dear of this" Revan said as he opened up a small pocket in his armored trousers and took out a crystal, it was small, about 3cm long and shaped like a long diamond, it seemed to shine with a violet light that colored the entire crystal "According to the most ancient records of the Jedi Order this is known as a _Tython Crystal_, very rare, can only be found on the planet Tython in the deep core of our galaxy, it is said that these crystals were used as a sort of imprisonment chamber"

"Tython" Gabriel thought out loud "That is the planet where according to ancient texts the Jedi Order originated"

"Correct" Revan said.

"How did you get this?" Gabriel asked "Tython Crystals haven't been seen in almost ten thousand years"

"Just before the Jedi Civil War when I was still Darth Revan I ordered a mass excavation of the Sith tomb-world of Korriban to search for ancient relics, weapons and training holocrons, one of the excavators found this, stupid fool nearly shattered it too, however when his pick-axe hit the crystal the tool shattered instead. I spent several years studying it but couldn't find a way to activate it; eventually I just began carrying it around as a good luck charm"

"So why bring it now?" Gabriel asked.

"It activated about two months ago but I didn't know about it at first until I heard a force call, very feint, but constant, when I went searching for the source it lead me to the crystal, it had changed color from the dull grey that I remember to the shinning violet you know see, I believe that its activation has something to do with your apprentice here" Revan explained, motioning towards Alana.

The immortal rose from his chair and walked around the table to the young girl before handed her the small crystal "Can you see anything child?"

Alana face furrowed as she scanned the diamond, the violet light seemed to originate from within the crystal, like a mist "I don't see anything" she finally said, Revan sighed wearily before moving to take the crystal back.

"Wait a minute" Alana said after a moment, the violet mist within the crystal began to clear and Alana began to vaguely make out a feminine humanoid form within, the persons arms were rapped around her knees in a fetal position "I see a person inside it, a woman, I think"

Revan and Gabriel were with her in a moment, both peering past Alana's shoulders into the recently cleared crystal. A few moments later and the crystal was completely cleared showing an alien woman, her form was human in appearance but at the base of her skull was a pair of head-tails that fell down past her slender, curled up form.

"A Twi'lek?" both Revan and Gabriel said in unison, as they spoke the little form began to move, Alana gasped as the Twi'lek opened her eyes, crimson red orbs glanced curiously out at them and a great warmth seemed to flow out into the surrounding force making everyone in the room feel at peace.

Cracks began to form on the crystal that expanded across the smooth surface like veins until they covered the entire surface, the crystal shattered making Alana almost fall out of her chair, a near blinding light formed just above the table and slowly the form of a being began to materialize making everyone jump away from the table in sudden surprise and shock. Slowly the naked form of the same alien woman appeared and floated over the table, her skin was a rich violet, her eyes were closed and her beautiful, fragile looking features were relaxed signifying that she appeared to be sleeping. As she slowly descended on top of the table Gabriel took off his robes and threw it over her naked form before checking her vital signs.

As he did so everyone else hesitantly approached the Twi'lek, unsure as to whether this person was really here or not "Is she alive" Revan asked.

"Yes" Gabriel replied "But she seems to be in a comatose state and she is seriously dehydrated. I think we need to get her to medical-bay for observation"

Everyone nodded in agreement before Mynn thumbed on her comlink to call th healers in the ships infirmary.

"Well done young one" Revan said to Alana "My hunch was correct"

"What do you mean?" Mynn asked, still a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Twi'lek woman.

"He was guided by whoever this woman is to me" Alana explained, unsure of how she knew this "She communicated with him through the force when she was awakened and asked him to find me"

"Good insight young one" Revan said "And I sense that you are more than just a powerful force-sensitive, however I do not know much else…it would appear that only she can answer all of our questions"

------

At the fringe of the system, onboard a ship that appeared to be made of shadow, a shadowy figure stood watching the stars, the darkness of his haven made him close to invisible with only the outline of his figure just barely visible, the area behind him erupted with red fire and several Chaos daemons appeared on either side of him, communicating with a series of hacking growls.

Ignoring them he continued looked out the view-screen and a pair of glowing blood red eyes starred out in the direction of the congregation of ships hovering in the death worlds orbit, he sensed a powerful presence suddenly appear on one of those vessels, whose warm light seemed to stretch across the system, flowing through his ship like a tidal wave and unnerving the daemons around him who backed away in fear.

He growled and like a feral predator fell into a rigid battle position, a pair of black feathered wings unwrapped themselves from his form and stretched out protectively as a snarl escaped his mouth. The strength of this signature, its purity made him feel an ancient, primal fear that he had only felt twice in his long lifetime.

"We are too late" he growled angrily, his clawed hands glowing red from discharging warp fire, in a move too fast for a mortals eye to see he fired of a ball of warped energy from his right hand, the ball of red death colliding with a Chaos daemon and tore the creature apart in a combination of warp energy and gore, the creatures remains convulsed before, in a flash of red mist returned to the warp "They have released one of the Immortals!!!"

He remembered those warriors when he fought them almost twenty-five thousand years ago, and how they and their armies had killed so many of his kind, before the Horus Heresy when the Dark Gods wanted a new galaxy to play with, he and his army of mutants and traitors were sent through a worm hole they had created to a world known as Tython in another galaxy, it was there that they meet those Immortal warriors and their armies of gifted psykers. The war was intense and devastating, annihilating his entire army, but it had cost them as well, he had called for reinforcements, more of his kind had arrived and together they defeated these warriors and trapped them in their own imprisonment devices, but they had underestimated their enemy's followers, who amassed against them and threw them back to the warp.

He forced himself to calm down, if he attacked now he would be defeated, a small group of warriors were on that ship, including the one known as _Revan_, he would send word back to the Eye of Terror, the Dark Gods of Chaos would know what to do. The _Infidel-class _Escort he was on suddenly turned away, as if the ship psychically knew what he was thinking, obeying its master's thoughts and vanishing into the evil energies of the warp.

**How was that? Do you like it, don't like it, hate it, love it, let me know. Who is this mysterious woman and what is her connection with Alana and Revan? Who are these _Fallen_ Daemons from the warp? And what will be in store for Robyn and her allies? Wait and see.**

**Question: Space Marines do have the ability to teleport but would they need a tagged soldier on the ground?**


	21. Tales of the Past

_**Chapter 20**_

_**Tales of the Past**_

"_Those I cannot crush with words I will crush with the tanks of the Imperial Guard!" _

Lord Commander Solar Macharius

------

Gabriel pushed a button on the control pad and watched as the blast door which led to the secure wing of the medical bay opened, he continued walking down a short corridor to yet another blast door and hit a four digit password into the second blast doors locking mechanism.

Gabriel sighed as a force presence that he knew very well tried to sneak in behind him "I thought I told you to get some sleep Alana"

"But master you always say that by the finding of knowledge one has to be curious" Alana said innocently as she walked up beside him.

"I never said such a thing" Gabriel said, his tone completely sarcastic "But since you've brought that up I'll let you in on another saying. Curiosity killed the cat"

"Master please, considering I freed this person I should at least know who she is" Alana protested lightly.

"Okay" Gabriel replied in defeat "but stay with me until I am sure this person isn't dangerous"

The door opened and the two Jedi stopped dead in their tracks, the bed that their sudden guest was issued was empty, without thinking Gabriel quickened his pace into the medical room, Alana following behind him and the two looked in disbelief at the view-port, she stood looking out at the stars and the enshrouded form of the _Shades of Grey_, wearing a pair of brown Jedi robes that was left beside her bed.

He couldn't believe it, she was in such a poor state when she appeared to them, she was dehydrated, pale and dreadfully thin, even by Twi'lek standards, yet here she was, barely two hours later and her violet skin was now healthier and she appeared to have regained a lot of her lost strength. Turning to them she smiled gently, the force signature that Gabriel had felt upon her arrival was still there, but had gained strength and seemed to encompass the entire ship with its warmth and radiant light.

"How are you feeling?" Gabriel asked, hiding his surprise at the woman's sudden recovery.

"There is no need to worry young Jedi" she replied, her voice was soft and silky "I was very well known in my time to recover quickly" she bowed deeply before them catching both Gabriel and Alana by surprise.

"Your welcome my lady" Gabriel replied, returning her bow "But who are you and where, or when do you come from?"

"Well I am from a time when the Jedi order was just starting to leave their hermit roots. I was an immortal, one of a handful born of the force and taught in its methods" she answered simply "In that time I was most well known as _The Healer _because I had mastered the aspects of the forces healing powers"

"Do you have a name?" Alana asked timidly, her history with the Dark Eldar still making her a little uneasy with any alien beings, she only really trusted Ishta who sparred with her every know and then and taught her on a few basic guarding and striking attacks.

"A name?" the Twi'lek replied thoughtfully "Well my mother named me Sasha"

"That'll do, my names Alana and this is my master Gabriel" she introduced, feeling that she could trust this woman, she didn't know why but there was something about her force signature that put her at ease.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alana" Sasha said and shook the young girls and her masters hands "I sense that you were the one who freed me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, but can we walk and talk, I am feeling very stiff"

"I guess it wouldn't be a problem" Gabriel said hesitantly before guiding Sasha through the door, as they entered the well lit, white corridors of the Star Destroyer the Twi'lek woman stretched her arms over her tailed head and sighed gratefully, the few aides and soldiers who were still up at this hour glanced curiously at this strange Jedi as they passed by.

Alana flinched slightly as the bruise on her cheek flared up again and the Healer noticed it before placing a slender hand out to stop her "Does it hurt?" she asked worriedly.

"Just a little" she replied, trying to put on a brave face, the healer shook her head and placed a slender hand on Alana's cheek, before the young padawan could ask what Sasha was doing she felt a tingling sensation on her face.

A few seconds later Sasha removed her hand and smiled warmly before reaching into her robes and producing a small mirror "I think that should do it"

Alana stuttered as she looked into the mirror, the black bruising on her face was gone; it had completely healed.

"How?" she asked in amazement.

"Do you think I won the title of _The Healer_ in a raffle or something?" Sasha asked in mock annoyance before smiling mischievously and placing a slender arm around Alana's shoulder led the young woman onwards through the spacious corridors of the Star Destroyer, she needed someone to give her a tour of this futuristic spacecraft, Gabriel followed the two chattering females, a look of wonder on his face before smiling, one thing that came with being a Jedi was that there was never any lack of surprises.

------

Joseph listened carefully to every detail of what was happening on Galenor as Mynn explained it to him, she explained in great detail the surprise attack made by the Dark Eldar, the destruction of their Imperium escorts, their last minute save by their contacts led by a man who would be around four thousand years old by now and finally the Jedi woman who seemed to appear out of thin air.

"This is incredible captain" Halos replied as she finished her report "It would appear that you have had a very busy time"

"Something to tell my children about sir" Mynn replied "However Revan asks that we remain behind with him"

"Why exactly?" the Admiral asked questionably.

"Just something about showing us the dangers and possible allies of this galaxy" the Togruta captain replied "Getting the full story or something similar, he didn't give much detail but I think it's mostly Jedi stuff"

"I am uncomfortably with splitting my forces captain" Joseph said before pausing "What does master Sabbath think?"

"He considers this would be a good way to learn more about this galaxy besides the Imperium's territories" Mynn answered, knowing too well that the Admiral trusted Gabriel's counsel more than almost anything else.

"Very well captain" Halos replied after a moment of thought "Well go on to Terra without you, just promise me you won't bite off more than you can chew"

"When have I ever done that?" Mynn asked with a mischievous smile.

"I've got a list of such incidents somewhere in my files" Joseph replied with a grin.

------

Inquisitor Vallace stood beside Admiral Halos as his small force of Star Destroyers, overshadowed by the massive form of the _Emperors Fire _moved carefully through the outmost line of defences around Helios Prime, the huge lance batteries of the surrounding weapon platforms were silent and unmoving.

His ships had been refitted once again before they began their departure from the Forge world, their main turbolaser and lance weapons had all been replaced by the newly developed and approved Turbolance batteries which Halos had to admit that he was very proud of, he had seen the tests on these weapons and concluded that they packed an incredible punch, the _Emperors Fire _had also been upgraded with half of her lance emplacements replaced by these new weapons.

"Are you sure about letting the _Firestorm _going wondering around on its own?" Robyn asked "There are many dangers in this galaxy"

"We need more Intel Inquisitor, Mynn's people are a race of wanderers and explorers and the Jedi have always been similar, besides the more we learn about this Revan and his allegiances the better"

"I know that I have heard of that name somewhere before" Robyn muttered to herself but shook it loose from her mind, there was other, more important things to do at the moment like prepare the Admiral for his arrival upon Holy Terra, her allies had contacted her and informed that the High Lords would allow the Alliances ships into the holy worlds airspace and listen to their proposals.

She was still pondering on these questions as the small taskforce slipped through the last line of outer defences and vanished into hyperspace.

------

Ishta couldn't help but stare at the place on her shoulder where the stab wound had been and shook her head in amusement, the healer had certainly lived up to her name, mending the wound to the point where it didn't even leave a scar, all she did was place her hand on the wound for a few seconds.

Her purple eyes scanned the expanse of the briefing room that the Jedi were using once again, they had left the death world called Galenor and were know travelling through hyperspace towards an area of deep space, the Mon-Keigh Jedi Revan had assured them that allies of his were stationed there.

But at the moment all eyes were on The Healer, the strange alien woman stood up from her chair and cleared her throat "As I told Master Sabbath I am from a time when the Jedi were leaving their hermit roots, this was way before the Order was split into two halves and well before they became guardians of a fledgling Republic, in fact under the leadership of myself and a handful of my fellows the Jedi, and the Sith as you call them were united under a single banner, there were three sub-groups of this ancient order. The Jedi who were the guardians, the Grey Jedi who were the watchers and finally the Sith who were the warriors" she paused, scanning the room for the reactions of her fellows "But sadly before we could complete the training of our students we were attacked, a great wormhole opened up in the middle of our star system and through it came a large fleet of warships"

"Great armies of warriors fell from the sky and attacked us without warning, they reeked of a darkness that was not of the force, that's very being was like a disease, a plague, a darkness upon the galaxy, we gathered our pupils and fought them...the war was devastating, encompassing all of Typhus and lasting for the better part of a century" she shuddered at the memory of that terrible time, but ignored the worried looks on the faces of those around her and continued "Thousands of innocents were slain, used for monstrous, inhumane sacrifices to their dark gods, many others began to change, the darkness that emanated from the wormhole driving them to madness. Finally we were gaining ground, only one fortress remained and we gathered our armies to force them off our world, but they had one last trump card. They had opened a rip to another dimension and through it came yet more daemons and warped soldiers, led by human-like monsters, encased in black, blood covered armour with large black feathered wings, grey skin and blood red eyes that could tear away the defences of a mortals mind and drive him insane. We fought them and slowly made our way towards the rift to close it, but one by one my fellow immortals fell and were imprisoned within their own Typhon crystals, eventually we made it to the breach and with the combined effort of us and our most powerful pupils we closed the portal, but the last few daemons continued to fight and the battle raged on, these dark creatures defeated the last of us with their superior numbers, imprisoning the last of us and throwing us across the galaxy, they underestimated our students however who obliterated them, scattering the last few away from Typhus"

"But the damage was already done, the seeds of mistrust between our pupils was already sown, we were imprisoned before we could complete our students training and eventually they went to war against each other, I believe that your history knew that time as the _Force Wars_" she dropped into her seat and sighed tiredly, the pain clearly evident in her crimson eyes "Even today they fight each other with such hatred, such malice, the Grey Jedi, who have always been the link between the Jedi and the Sith were butchered and destroyed by the end of that terrible conflict with the forces of Chaos"

Everyone in the room was quiet, deep in contemplation at what had been revealed to them, it was Revan who spoke "So the battle that myself and my followers had fought against Chaos so long ago wasn't the first time"

"Yes" Sasha answered "And it won't be the last, as long as the Chaos Gods exist they will always wish to bring more death and destruction, not just on this galaxy but on others as well, it was that that made me start to teach you and your friends the deeper secrets of the force"

"What do you mean?" Revan and Sonya asked in unison.

"I drove you on to discover the true powers of the force" Sasha repeated, her lips tugging up into the sad smile "Slowly implanting suggestions into your minds, subconsciously telling you how to unlock these abilities, because for the Jedi, and for that matter the Sith to survive the dark times ahead they will need old and wise immortal force-users to bring them together and teach them all of the things they have lost, it is for that reason that we must find my brothers and sisters to resurrect this order, for I sense if the forces of Chaos gain a foothold in our galaxy not even the netherworld of the force can provide a safe haven"

Meanwhile far away from Galenor, just outside of the eye of terror a massive fleet made up of thousands of warships left the dark mist towards the Imperium world of Cadia, the fleet passed by a star on the verge of going supernova, the star exploded suddenly and without warning, sending shockwaves of raw energy through the few thousand Chaos ships that were passing by and throwing them through a great wormhole, dumping them unceremoniously into an unknown region of deep space.

Onboard the lead battleship _Daemon Prince Anubis_ picked himself up from the deck and starred out mercilessly at the space around him before spinning towards the nearest sorcerer, his warped eyes burning with rage "Where are we!!!???"

**Phew now that was an idea I have been working on for a while, what do you think? In the next chapter you will find out where the Chaos fleet have ended up and you will hear from a Star Wars race that, unless you have read the books, you will never have heard of before…We soar on wings of fire!!!**


	22. Lost and the Damned

_**Chapter 21**_

_**Lost and the Damned**_

"_Learn about art, Captain. When you understand a species' art, you understand that species" _

Grand Admiral Thrawn

------

In the silence of space a massive fleet of over five thousand nightmarish warships floated lifelessly through space, with momentary flashes the many thousands of warships suddenly came to life, their running lights coming on in unison, one by one the ships righted themselves and got into formation by their squadrons.

Onboard the flagship, a _Despoiler-class _Battleship called the _Eternal Agony_; Daemon Prince Anubis stumbled back to his feet and surveyed the ruins of his bridge with warped eyes. Several of the consoles were sparking wrecks, set on fire, the cultists and traitor serfs who were stationed on them nothing more than unrecognisable charred husks, along the circumference of the dank bridge cultists, mutants and chaos marines were also picking themselves up from the deck.

"Where are we!!?" Anubis bellowed angrily, he picked up his massive, long staffed power axe and swung it towards the nearest unlucky cultist, connecting with his abdomen and slicing him in two.

At once the remaining traitor serfs rushed to the stations that weren't burning and started hitting runes and scanning data screens for any hints to their location, eventually one of the serfs turned to the daemon prince, his pale, nightmarish features contorted in fear.

"The sensors detect that we are not at our last recorded position my lord" he managed "The eye of terror has vanished, according to the charts we could be half way across the galaxy but several of the stars are out of alignment"

"So we could be in another galaxy for all you know" Anubis hissed, silencing the much smaller serf with a glare before stalking to his throne "Long range scans of the entire area, check for any life-signs, perhaps we can gain some information about this place"

------

At the very edge of the Ssi-ruuk star cluster a group of ten egg-shaped _Shree-class _Battlecruisers of the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium soared through space on a routine patrol.

The Imperium was going through rough times, their second attempt to invade the bigger galaxy through the human world of Bakura had ended in failure again, the repercussions this time were far worse than before, their leader, the Keeramak was slain in that failed invasion, their enslaved brother race, the P'w'eck revolted leaving the entire Imperium much weaker and finally an invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong that destroyed their outer worlds and half of their war-fleet.

On the bridge of the lead 900m long warship Admiral Shirwunn scanned the area of space ahead of his fleet, his reptilian eyes darting back and forth for any sign of an enemy warship. He was a Ssi-ruuk, a 2m tall reptilian whose form was similar to the ancient raptors, he was of the warrior caste, the red-scales that covered his head, back and tail were the sign of his lineage.

"Admiral we have several thousand signals from the border" one of his warriors said from the scanning console "About two million kilometres from our location"

"Order the fleet to close in on that position" Shirwunn ordered, his mind sifting through the possibilities of what this mass of signals could be "Long range scanners, arm the weapon systems, send a message to the conclave. If this is another invasion we may need the entire fleet!"

It wasn't long before the source of the signals came into view on the long range screens and upon seeing them the Admiral instinctively emitted several piercing throat calls, warships, thousands of them in nightmarish designs he had never seen before.

He ordered his fleet to stay where they were until they got word back from their capital-world of Lwhekk, it wasn't long before they got a reply: _Contact unknowns, if they prove hostile disengage and wait for reinforcements at Keerama._

"Take us in" the Admiral ordered as he sat down on his command chair "Open all channels, broadcast who we are and demand why they are in our space!"

At once the ten battlecruiserslurched forward towards the mass of ships that was arrayed before them, every communications channel open and broadcasting the same message over and over again. A few moments after the first message finished transmitting a response came through all of the channels, the voice rasping and vicious like an ancient, murderous ghost.

"We are the Black Legion of the forces of Chaos, and we are your doom!!!" the message in turn was repeated over and over again, echoing like a hundred ghostly voices were repeating it in unison sending a chill down the admirals spine. Several vessels broke away from the mass of ships and moved towards their location, there were ten of them, ranging in size from eight 1km long escort ships and two 5km long behemoths.

"Sir they are within weapons range!"

"Fire a concentrated volley on the nearest escort ship and sound a withdrawal!" the Ssi-ruuk admiral ordered, immediately the ten Battlecruisers opened fire on the approaching ships with their own version of turbolaser batteries, long lances of silver light flew through space and smashed into the lead escort, the combined firepower searing through the surprisingly thick hull plating and blasting it apart, in return the enemy vessels opened fire with long, thick lances of reddish light, the Admiral guessed that their range was half of the turbolasers but their ships were gaining fast.

"Jump to hyperspace now!!!" Shirwunn ordered, the lead behemoth was in range and fired with all its frontal weapons, the beams hit one of his ships head on and vaporised it, sending fire and debris flying in every possible direction, as the surviving vessels jumped to hyperspace the Admiral looked on in disbelief, a _Shree _Battlecruiser, one of the most powerful warships of the Ssi-ruuk war machine was destroyed in a single volley.

------

Within the dank bridge of the _Eternal Agony_ the Daemon Prince laughed maniacally showing his teeth, filed sharp and the colour of crimson. He swivelled his horned head towards the two Chaos sorcerers standing beside him, their spiked armour the dark colours of the black legion with black scrolls, blood red runes inscribed on the paper that hung from their suits, in their armoured hands they held ancient staff's imbued with the powers of the undivided dark gods.

"Where are they going?" he asked.

The sorcerers tapped their staff's against the steel decking of the bridge and began to mumble ancient, dark incantations to the chaos gods. Their voice steadily rising in tone, echoing through the bridge like a hundred ghostly beings were speaking at once, as suddenly as the voices started they stopped and the sorcerers turned to the prince, small specks of red light shining through the black eye visors of their helmets.

Suddenly the sorcerer to the left started to convulse, dropping his weapon he fell to his knees, his breathing coming up in ragged breaths and strangled cries, he fumbled at his helmet and pulled it off, blood trickling from his eyes and the corners of his mouth. The daemon prince rose from his throne and in a quick motion gripped a brown, clawed fist around the sorcerer's scrawny neck.

"You weak minded fool" Anubis said, his voice barely a whisper "What is the matter with you?"

"The warp" the sorcerer replied, his voice a panicked mumble "Its pure, it's pure!"

With a roar of anger Anubis backhanded the sorcerer sending him flying across the bridge and smashing into the black bulkhead at the other side with a bone shattering thud, as his lifeless form slumped to the already blood covered decking a pair of chaos daemons, their silhouettes barely visible in the darkness pulled the limp form into the shadows.

With a snarl of contempt Anubis turned to the second sorcerer who stood beside him, unflinching and apparently uncaring at his comrades demise, the higher daemons eyes came alive with barely contained warp fire as he asked the question again "Where are they going!?"

"They retreat to a world known to their tongue as Keerama" he said, his voice amplified by the helmets voice amplifier.

"Gather the fleet" Anubis said as he sat back on his skull throne, his clawed hands tapping off the arms in a controlled rhythm "Every ship prepare for warp jump to this Keerama, I assume that the sorcerers will guide us to the location?"

------

Admiral Kermaac stood looking out of the view screen of his _Shree-class _Battlecruiser, the _Blood of Lwhekk _at the recently constructed orbital defences around the world of Keerama, a central planet within the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium. Dozens of large 500m long weapon stations, shaped like platforms and armed with six laser cannons surrounding a larger duelled Ssi-ruuk turbolaser battery surrounded the planet with hundreds of small picket ships, artillery frigates and light cruisers.

The Ssi-ruuk admiral's eyes narrowed at the sight, these defences were what finally stopped the small Yuuzhan Vong armada that invaded their space, his battle group didn't stand a chance against them head on so instead they executed hit and run raids as they tore through the empires outer planets, weakening them for the battle over Keerama where the Yuuzhan Vong where finally repelled. Now that the world's defences had been bolstered he was confident that they could hold against anything that this galaxy could throw at it.

"Sir we have an emergency hyperspace exit" one of his warriors said, taking the admiral's concentration away from the view "Its admiral Shirwunn's taskforce!"

He glared out away from the defence line at a small group of nine warships that jumped out of hyperspace and raced towards the planet an maximum impulse speed, the communications console came to life with the younger admirals voice "Prepare for battle, we have several thousand hostile vessels-"

The admiral's voice was swallowed up in static and was replaced by a ghostly whisper "We are the black legion of the forces of chaos, and we are your doom!"

A few moments later the space behind Shirwunn's force seemed to be torn open and through the multicoloured rips came thousands of warships that dwarfed the scouting squadrons ships, these thousands of vessels formed up into a wall of steel with the smaller ships taking up the vanguard, followed by larger cruisers and finally much larger battlecruisers and battleships taking up the rearguard. In unison they lurched forward, the escort ships firing long lances of thick, orange energy beams at the retreating vessels of Shirwunn's fleet and turned them all to blooms of red fire.

"All ships and platforms fire at will!!!"

As one the orbital defences came alive with long ranged weapons fire, the long silver beams streaked across space and collided with the front line of escort vessels tearing a few dozen of them apart through concentrated barrages. But once the strange nightmarish vessels were within range with their own weapons everything changed, long orange lances of pure power streaked back across the void and connected with the battle line tearing weapon platform and warship alike to burning pieces.

Ssi-ruuk drone fighters were annihilated before they could launch from their hangers, warships were turned into twisted, burning wrecks and what lance beams that passed through the defences and hit the planet turned hundreds of kilometres of forest into barren, charred craters.

From the hangers of the chaos warships came thousands of doomfire and switdeath fighters that flew across the rapidly shrinking void and engaged the few 2m long pyramid shaped _Swarm _starfighters that managed to launch before the deadly barrage.

These drones were products of the Ssi-ruuk's entechment technology, humanoids were captured, their life energies sucked from their bodies and transferred to fuel their technologies, becoming the minds of warships, starfighters, cities and weapon platforms among many other things. They were dispatched quickly, their life energies, which had lost the will to live long ago being no match for the chaos fighters.

As the first wave of chaos ships flew into the debris field that was once the planetary defence forces they destroyed the last few surviving warships including a _Shree _battlecruiser that stood its ground, firing continuously until the very end.

From the bridge of the _Eternal Agony _the daemon prince watched as the planet got bigger on his main view-screen, he smiled as he sensed a powerfully dark presence appear from the shadows of the dank command deck.

"Lord Fungan" Anubis said without turning "Gather your army, take that world, kill all who resist"

The moment the first wave of transports entered the planets atmosphere they were hit by a torrent of anti-air fire from the defences around the main city, long tracer lines of weapons salvoes lit up the sky destroying several of the transports before they finally hit the ground. Next to punch through the atmosphere were small clusters of atmospheric strike pods that dropped to the ground in key positions, the walls of the pods fell outwards spewing out full squads of chaos space marines.

The massive traitor marines were a truly intimidating sight to behold, their bulky armour was spiked and coloured black as night to symbolise their legion, their helmets were shaped like a daemons with long ram like horns and red eye visors, in their gauntlets were deadly bolters, heavy bolters and flamers.

------

Around one of the main anti-air cannons Commander Streed beat his stiff tail against the ground kicking up a small cloud of dust as he cocked his heavy blaster rifle, all around him were fellow warriors, their red scales shimmering from the brilliant light of the discharging weapons fire and large enteched Battledroids, standing the same height as the Ssi-ruuk warriors they looked like humanoid skeletons with blasters and blades attached to their arms, three larger, tank sized Battledroids were also among his force, their main 8 inch long cannons scanning the area around their charge.

The first thing they heard were the sounds of inhuman battle cries "We are the black legion and we are your doom, we are the black legion and we are your doom, we are the black legion and we are your doom!"

In response Streed lead his warriors in roaring out short, challenging throat calls at the owners of the voices. Suddenly the flashes of weapons fire tore into his warriors and droids leaving gapping holes in their armoured forms, a barrage of missiles flew above him and smashed in to two of the tank droids causing them to explode.

The creatures firing at them were a truly terrifying sight but Streed didn't back down, instead he roared and returned fire with his high powered blaster but the laser beams only succeeded in charring their armour. The enemy's weapons were much more effective tearing through Ssi-ruuk and Battledroids alike. The commander fired a few more rounds before he was pummelled with bolter rounds, as he fell to the bloodied ground he saw several missiles fly through the air, spewing out black smoke in their wake as they smashed into the anti-air gun and tore it apart.

------

Lord Fungan stood at the edge of the landing zone watching as a line of chaos predator tanks drove into position and fired in unison with their main guns, the massive barrels recoiling as they fired into the city smashing into buildings and kicking up debris. From the sky were beams of lance fire, leaving clear gaps of sky in their wake as they smashed into the city demolishing buildings and leaving great craters.

In the cratered, burning flat land between his landing zone and the city were droves of traitor guardsmen, their carapace armour black in colour, among them was a swarm of mutant cannon fodder, captured chimera fire tanks, squads of chaos jet-bikes, all lead by chaos black legion champions, charged forward, explosions burning all around them from the artillery that wasn't destroyed in the surgical strikes.

"My lord" his terminator honour guard said as he came forward "All strike squadrons report successes, the traitor guard and mutants are taking heavy losses but moving forward, its only a matter of time"

Fungan nodded as a sick smile crossed his pale, scarred face, Anubis had promised him this world if he took it and he planned to. Three chaos cruisers and ten escorts were left in orbit to support his invasion while the rest of the armada broke into battle groups and moved to take the other planets in this new star cluster, it was only a matter of time, the forces of chaos would be victorious here and create a foothold in a new galaxy.

**Sorry it took so long everyone, I had a load of coursework to do last month, I still have a lot of coursework to do so updates may slow for a while, I've gotten several great ideas with Long Live Warhammer 40K and plan to move on with it, thanks for the help friend.**


	23. Meetings & Proposals

_**Chapter 23**_

_**Meetings and Proposals**_

_"Curses! Just when you have managed to bring the whole world under your evil influence some pathetic little Inquisitor goes whining off to the Adeptus Terra about rogue psykers and daemonic possession. I mean, do I look possessed? Well, do I?DO I???" _

Personal Log of Lord Varlak

------

As the star destroyers and their _Retribution-class _protector left hyperspace they saw the throne world of the Imperium for the first time, and what a sight it was. Around every planet of the Sol system were thousands of weapon platforms, each one bristling with lance batteries, plasma cannons and heavy bolter turrets, as the flotilla moved closer into the system the weapon platforms only got bigger and more deadly, eventually the lance batteries were replaced by nova cannons and massive, spire shaped space stations orbiting around the planets known as Jupiter, Mars and finally Terra. Around these great platforms of destruction were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of warships, mostly escorts but also cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships patrolling the many lines of defences in assigned battle squadrons.

Admiral Halos could only gaze out at the incredible array of weapons that surrounded the systems planets like a great mist, the platforms and the space stations that were close enough to his force swivelled their weapons to trace them but they reframed from firing. Magi Durin wanted them to set up positions around the orbit of Mars and wait for the Adeptus Mechanicus' tech-priests.

"Not even the Death Star could break through these defences" Florn said as he watched the view unfold before him.

"No one has ever succeeded in invading Terra in almost ten thousand years captain" Vallace explained as they took up positions around the red world "Be honoured for you are the first outsiders to be invited here"

"I'll keep that in mind Inquisitor" Florn replied.

Halos remained silent, he knew how important this proposed meeting with the twelve high lords was, it could solidify the promise of an alliance with his small force and if that came to be then perhaps they could help his people find a way home, he wasn't blind to his peoples wishes to return to their homes, to their families.

"It has been many years since I have been here" Robyn said, more to herself than to anyone present, she then pointed at the red world that they had just begun orbiting "This is Mars, capital of the Adeptus Mechanicus and head forge world of the Imperium"

"It is impressive" Joseph said, he guessed that this forge world was greater than the shipyard worlds of Corellia and Mon Calamari combined, but there were other things on his mind that he needed to discuss "Have you contacted your allies on Terra?"

"I have and I told them of my plans" Robyn answered, tearing her gaze away from the view "They are sceptical and weary but feel that we should take the chance, my mentor and several of his most trusted allies will be waiting for us at the landing bays"

"Well I have spoken to the Magi about this and I have convinced him to try and gain the support of the fabricator general, if you and your allies try and gain the lord inquisitors then we may have a chance"

"Perhaps" Vallace said wearily "But I must warn you admiral, Terra is well known to be a very zealous place, one wrong word can see a man being branded a heretic and burned alive so please mind what you say"

He nodded before seeing a small thunderhawk shuttle come into view, its ancient exhausts expelling trails of smoke and flame as it came closer to the _Vigilance. _Suddenly the comlinks came to life and a voice, magnified by a helmet amplifier spoke "This is Terran shuttle gamma alpha 6345 to Alliance star destroyer _Vigilance_; we are your admirals transport to the holy worlds surface"

"Roger that" Halos responded "You are cleared to proceed to the hanger bay"

"Admiral" the Magi said as his holographic image appeared on the command deck "Once you have disembarked I will take your fleet further into the Martian defence zones and allow the tech priests to further analyse your technology"

"That sounds fine Magi as long as my techs and a few of your own tech priests are allowed to keep taps on them" Halos replied.

"Understood Admiral" the Magi agreed, a small smile spreading across his heavily augmented face "I will also try and gain the support of some of my fellows, there are Magi's who I think will rally with me in trying to convince the fabricator general, best of luck admiral"

"Same to you Magi" Halos replied

He then ordered the transmissions cut before turning to the inquisitor, she had dressed for the occasion, wearing a long, simple grey robe, her long black hair done up in a braid.

"Well my honour guard will be waiting in the hanger" Halos said before turning towards the bridges turbolift "Florn you have the bridge"

As the thunderhawk left the hanger of the star destroyer Halos and Vallace sat on the ancient, slightly uncomfortable chairs which were built into the walls, the bulkheads of the shuttle showed their age with rust and the tang of incensed metal, sitting with them on the chairs was a full squad of eight ARC troopers, armed with simple E-11 blaster rifles. At the other end of the shuttle were two stone faced elite Kasrkin guardsmen.

The shuttle shuddered as it hit the outer atmosphere and for a moment Halos thought that it would break up, but thankfully the thunderhawk held long enough, the first thing that the admiral saw was skyscrapers, hundreds of them were above the cloud cover that stretched as far as the eye could see, as they flew through the clouds they saw yet more buildings that reminded him of Coruscant, they continued on for several minutes before the proposed meeting site for the high lords came into view, a massive spire that looked about two kilometres thick and was made out of ancient grey stone that's top seemed to pierce through the cloud cover, platforms on the spire held up ancient lance batteries and plasma cannons as well as several others acting as landing pads.

The shuttle decreased its speed, the ancient crafts very superstructure started to shake as it decelerated and landed on the closest platform of one of the last surviving great watchtowers of holy Terra. As the ramp descended Halos saw the shodowed figures of a half dozen beings waiting at the connecting walkway.

------

Major Thorn of the 12th ARC trooper squad led his troopers out of the thunderhawk first, at the edge of the landing platform were three men, their forms hidden in long hooded cloaks, behind them were a group of four large warriors that from what he read up on were called the space marines, their bulky armour was coloured yellow and red to symbolise their chapter, the Imperial Fists.

Thorn and his contingent fell into step behind the Admiral and Inquisitor Vallace, as they got closer the major started to see just how intimidating these warriors of the Adeptus Astartes truly looked, they towered over him and looked about twice his mass, the heavy weapons they held in their armoured fists seemed capable of tearing gaping holes into the strongest armour.

The three cloaked figures standing within the space marine formation were no less intimidating, their forms appeared to be lanky and at least one of them had been implanted with mechanical enhancements to the point where he couldn't tell whether he was a man or a machine, Thorn had been a stormtrooper a very long time and in his years he had meet many evil men but these beings looked like they would give people like Palpatine and Zsinj nightmares.

"Admiral Halos" Vallace started as the two parties met each other "May I introduce to you Inquisitors Dominic, Greysteel and Silvermaine, my mentor" Dominic seemed the younger of the group and the tallest, his lanky form and dead green eyes fixing the admiral with a gaze that would make a lesser man flinch, Greysteel was the one with the heavy mechanical implants to his left eye and lower face and finally Silvermaine who was by far the oldest of the group, his face was old and weathered but his eyes were sharp as a hawks.

The three robed figures nodded their greeting, it was the elder one, Silvermaine who spoke first "We thank you for coming Admiral, I hope Inquisitor Vallace has appraised you on the state of matters here""

"Yes she has and I am honoured to be here Inquisitor" Halos replied, bowing deeply as Robyn had instructed "I take it you have read up on the reports Inquisitor Vallace had sent you?"

"We have admiral and they are very interesting" Greysteel answered, his voice mechanically enhanced "There are however several things we need to confer with you before we approach the high lords"

"Things like?"

"First why would you risk helping us?" Dominic asked pointedly, Halos guessed immediately that this one was the more direct "I mean the humans of your galaxy coincide peacefully with xeno races, our ideologies couldn't be any more different"

"That is true and I must admit that first contact with the Imperium made us sceptical of allying ourselves with you however after confronting the enemies of humanity in this galaxy in the forms of the Dark Eldar and later the Tyranids we have found that the Imperium seems barbaric at first glance because you have been fighting for survival with these races for thousands of years, I have a feeling that if the empires I represent were in your situation they may have been no different"

"To another point" Silvermaine cut in, seemingly happy with the admiral's answer "From the data we have read on your galactic alliance we have gathered that it is a coalition of nations, both human and alien alike, is this true?"

"Yes the alliance is such a coalition between most of the galaxy including alien races" Halos answered "however I myself am not from a nation in the alliance"

"Really" Silvermaine said, raising a greying eyebrow "Then where are you from?"

"Tell me inquisitors have you read up on the galactic empire?" Joseph asked.

"Yes we have" Greysteel replied "It is an empire within your galaxy similar to us that came into being half a century ago, at its height it covered eighty percent of your galaxy but it began to decline and fracture after the death of its emperor, it now covers only a few hundred thousand systems but is still a powerful nation and carries a lot of influence on the bigger galaxy"

"I am from the planet of Bastion, which is the capital world of the Imperial Remnant" Joseph said simply "We are allied to the galactic alliance however we are still an independent military power"

"And the origins of your fleet in orbit?" Dominic questioned.

"It is a coalition force between the empire and the alliance, three star destroyers belong to the alliance and the other three belong to the empire" Halos said, his answers calm and precise.

"But if you are separated from your own empires then how will you be able to validate an alliance with us, let alone the sharing of technologies without the permission of your ruling councils?" Greysteel asked suspiciously.

"During the Yuuzhan Vong Wars the Galactic senate of the Galactic Alliance and the ruling Moff council of the Imperial Remnant passed decrees that allows separated military leaders to make alliances and trades as long as it is agreed upon by them afterwards" Halos replied evenly, holding the challenging stare of the cyborg Inquisitor.

"This may prove helpful to our cause admiral" Silvermaine said "The fact that you are from a mostly human empire may gain the attention of a few of the high lords"

Halos nodded, it was the truth but he wasn't your average Imperial stereotype that the Inquisitors read about, he was a firm supporter of Daala and Paelion who were what changed the empire from what it was during Palpatine's rule to an organisation that allowed aliens into its ranks, but he wasn't going to tell the Inquisitors that.

------

Magi Durin took a deep augmented breath before entering his battleships briefing chamber, the ancient room was darkened with the only light sources coming from ancient red flamed candles on the rust coloured walls, in the centre of the chamber was a large round table, sitting on the metal chairs were fifteen fellow Magi's of the Adeptus Mechanicus, each one heavily augmented with mechanical implants, hidden by the streaming red robes of the Mechanicus, standing guard against the walls of the chamber were each magi's own entourage of Tech-guard, their augmented battle implants and armour appeared to shimmer in the low light.

"My fellow magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus" Durin welcomed as he entered the room, his own entourage of two tech-guards flanking him as he entered "I welcome you to my domain"

"Magi Durin" Magi Culsis, the older of the Magi's greeted "What is so important that you required all of us to be here"

"The importance my friends is the discovery of technologies which could overall strengthen the entire Imperium and give us enough to research on for a very long time" Durin said simply, as he predicted the message left the other Magi in the chambers silenced.

"You are talking about the alliance technologies" Magi Gurine said, his tone almost challenging "What makes their technology so different from ours?"

"Well for one is their superior shielding technology" Durin began "Their ships rely on their shields more than their hull armour so they are considerably more powerful than our own, and I have read that they have created shields big enough to protect entire planets"

"Interesting" Magi Drenn replied, his voice barely containing his enthusiasm, Durin had sent each of them examples of such new technology, so he was just repeating what the records said "But one technology which is superior to our own is not worth such a partnership"

"That shielding technology is just the tip of the iceberg" Durin replied calmly "There is also gravity technology known as gravity well generators that create a gravity field similar to a planets, this has been proven to throw ships out of the warp and damage their warp drives, they also have faster and safer lightspeed travel called hyperdrive and longer ranged weapons. This is just a taste of what the alliance can offer us"

The Magi in the chambers were silent once again, several of them were genuinely excited by the news but others like Magi Culsis were unsure of the news Durin was giving them.

"Why have you called us together if the leader of this force is about to speak with the high lords?" Magi Drenn asked.

"The reason my friends is because I believe that Admiral Halos and his taskforce may require our protection in the near future" Durin answered "Once Halos and his peoples existence becomes known there will be individuals in the Imperium who would possibly wish to destroy the alliance and I feel that my one battleship may not be enough to protect them, if I call for aide I wish for there to be allies who will answer"

------

As the Inquisitors lead Halos and his entourage through the greatly decorated corridors of the ancient spire Halos could only stare in wonder at the greatly detailed corridors, the walls were made out of grey stone with greatly detailed tapestries covering them, each one depicting legendary moments in the history of the Imperium, mostly great conflicts during the time known as the great crusade with famous battles between vast armies and impressive space fleets. Thick grey pillars supported the high solid stone ceiling which in turn was also covered in tapestries depicting great battles and heroes that shaped the Imperium, including the emperor himself who stood out as a towering man encased in armour that seemed to shimmer with psychic power, a long bladed power sword, sparking with barely contained psychic energy held in his gauntleted hands.

Finally they came to the chambers that would hold this meeting with the high lords, the massive double doors were made of solid stone engraved with high gothic runes and hieroglyphs, as they approached the great doors opened with a creak revealing the dark confines of the chamber.

"Are you ready for this Joseph?" Robyn asked in concern.

"No turning back now" Halos replied as he took a deep, calming breath before following the other Inquisitors through the stone doors to the interior of the impressive circular chamber. The ARC troopers followed the cue of the space marines and remained where they were.

The meeting hall was massive, at least a kilometre wide, the grey stone walls were embedded with ancient runes that the admiral guessed were high gothic as well as massive statues of great heroes of the Imperium during the great crusade and the horus heresy, high above his head, at least 500m high was a stone ceiling that reminded him vaguely of the design of an ancient citadel. In the centre of this room was a large table, a well crafted statue of the emperor at its centre, dressed in white robes and holding a power sword over his hooded head, sitting at this table were twelve figures that he guessed were the high lords, sitting on grand thrones, each one crafted to show the organisation that he represented.

"Great high lords of Terra, rulers of the Imperium, voices of the Emperor we thank you for allowing us this meeting" Robyn spoke, her voice echoing through the great chamber.

"We have reviewed the data sent to us on this galactic alliance" one of the men, of whom Halos guessed was the lord of the Inquisition by his long flowing black robes, bearing the insignia of the organisation spoke, he then ran his steely gaze through each of the people present, settling on Joseph for a few moments before speaking again "You may be seated"

Five chairs suddenly rose from the ground around the free part of the table and the four Inquisitors and Alliance Admiral each took a chair and sat down.

------

Meanwhile the first teams of Martian tech-priests arrived on board the star destroyers and set to work on examining the various new technologies on board, each team was watched over by a squad of soldiers, either stormtroopers or alliance guards as well as a tech-priest from Magi Durin's forces, this was to make sure they didn't do anything they weren't supposed to do to the internal systems of the warships.

------

On one of the most outer space stations of the Terran defence network a small group of Inquisitors gathered, their black robes and hoods concealing their forms and facial features. The walkway they had chosen was deserted and quiet, the security systems mysteriously shorting out before they gathered.

"Do you realise what is at stake if the plans of these alliance infidels come into effect" one exclaimed angrily "The emperor could be revived and take complete control of the galaxy once more, our plans will not be realised!!!"

"Indeed" another agreed, his voice old and gruff "If he is revived he will know what we have been doing and hunt us down to the last, these heretics must not be tolerated here!"

"Calm my friends" another said, his voice old yet still holding a smug tone "We will just simply unleash those loyal to us and destroy them"

"What about the Adeptus Mechanicus" another asked "They would not tolerate us attacking those under their protection"

"One battleship will not protect them my friends" the old one replied uncaringly "And the defence platforms would not fire upon the black ships of the Inquisition, these alliance infidels and their xeno pets will not leave Terra alive"

**Well what do you think, sorry it took so long I had IVA coursework to finish, 152 pages long…sorry, anyway the pieces are coming together, the friends and enemies of the alliance are becoming more clear, Halos is meeting with the high lords to discuss his proposals, what will these rogue Inquisitors do to the Alliance and will Magi Durin be successful in rallying support to his cause, keep reading and find out.**

**Question: Where do you think I should go next, stay with Halos, go back to the Jedi, or to the other galaxy?**


	24. A Spark in the Dark

_**Chapter 23**_

_**A Spark in the Dark**_

_"Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new"_

Obi-wan Kenobi

------

Deep space, far away from any inhabited planets and star systems, far away from any prying eyes, the perfect place for a gathering, as the _Firestorm _and the _Shades of grey _came out of hyperspace they were about a hundred kilometres in front of a motley fleet of warships. As they got closer a swath of data on the ships came through showing each of their names, ship classes and types.

"I read about twenty vessels captain" a radar operator called from the crew pits "Nineteen of which are Imperium cruisers of different types, all centred around an _Emperor-class _battleship"

"A vast majority of those are imperial ships" Ishta said uneasily.

"Many of them were either taken during raids or gifts from thankful systems that we helped defend" Revan explained "The battleshipthere was the sole survivor of a planet that fell during the 13th Black Crusade, it was drifting in deep space with a damaged warp drive when we found it"

"We've just been given clearance to dock with the battleship _Reverent Blade_"

"Very well" Mynn replied "Begin docking procedures!"

------

The star destroyer came up alongside the battleship and manoeuvred itself into the proper docking position on her portside, she was immediately caught in several large clamps and a walkway from the battleship connected with one of the _Firestorm's _openings.

Waiting on the other side of the airlock was Captain Mynn, Gabriel, Revan, Alana, Ishta and a small group of alliance marines, dressed in dark blue uniforms with black piping, their hands gripped on the stocks of their blaster rifles as they were lead through the opened airlock into the walkway between warships.

Waiting for them at the other end of the walkway was a group of people, guarded by a group of soldiers wearing silver and black armour with featureless facemasks similar to those of the Sith soldiers of the Jedi Civil War era, they were armed with an exotic type of blaster pistol and power sword on their waists. Besides the 'Sith soldiers' were another three figures, two of which, to Gabriel's surprise were dressed in the brown robes of Jedi knights which completely hid their forms, the third was a human dressed in a crimson uniform with golden piping and the cap which used to be worn in the days of the Jedi Civil War by an admiral of the old republics navy, he was fairly old with trimmed white hair and a face which was both scarred and weathered from hundreds of battles, but his hazel eyes were as sharp as a hawks, strapped to his hip was a deadly looking, long barrelled blaster pistol.

"Welcome back master Revan" the old man greeted before gazing at the newcomers "I see that your trip was successful"

"Very much so admiral" Revan replied before turning to Mynn and the others "Captain I would like to introduce to you Admiral Saul, commanding officer of this little band of vessels"

The old admiral bowed deeply before the alliance entourage before walking towards them and shaking Mynn's hand "Welcome aboard Captain Mynn, master Sabbath, warlock Taldeer and padawan Varne"

"Thank you admiral" Mynn replied, wondering how he knew all of their names "This is an impressive fleet"

"Thank you captain" Saul said "But if I may ask where is the one known as the healer"

"She is in meditation in her quarters onboard our ship" Gabriel explained "I didn't want to interrupt her, I am sure that she will join us eventually"

"If I may interrupt?" Ishta asked "It is strange that you have been around for around four thousand years and that we have rarely heard of you, if ever at all"

"That warlock is because we know how to go around without being seen" one of the brown robed figures behind the admiral said, the voice feminine and silky "We usually stay on the fringes of the major empires like the Imperium's or your own, away from any major ship concentrations, in fact there are only a handful of worlds who know of our existence"

"This is Jedi masters Aisha Calisto and Seth Vao, two of the oldest Jedi masters of this order and two members of the Jedi council" Revan introduced, the two jedi bowed respectfully before pulling back their hoods, Aisha was a human woman with shoulder length black hair and dark skin with a pair of brown eyes while Seth was a Twi'lek with cerulean blue skin and dark eyes, both wore exo-skeleton suits with loose black belts tied around their waists, these belts held a number of small pockets with the silver hilts of lightsabres clipped to their sides.

"Please everyone come in" Saul said while indicating to the entrance to the battleship "We can't stay out here all day"

Everyone agreed and walked through the corridor into the _Reverent Blade_, Ishta had been in a few Imperium vessels before but was surprised to see that the interior of this vessel was very different, instead of the corridors being dreary and dank like so many captured Imperium ships she had been in they were well lit, similar to that of the alliance star destroyers, they were crowded with droids, curriers, soldiers and amazingly enough a few Jedi who were going about their daily business, a few stopped for a few seconds to look at the visitors curiously but besides that they were left alone.

"Is this the only fleet under your command?" Mynn asked the admiral curiously as they walked down the corridor.

"No there are a few others" Saul answered "But for their own safety as well as our own we do not know where they are half the time"

"How have you survived out here this long?" Gabriel asked.

"We survived thanks to trading agreements with worlds, both alien and human who are outside of the major empires reach as well as secret alliances with several outer Imperium worlds and colonies, we also have good relations with the Eldar Craftworlds of Saim-Hann, Lyandan and Ulthwe"

"You have relations with Ulthwe?" Ishta asked hopefully.

"Yes we do" Saul answered, turning to the young warlock "And we will contact them to let them now that you're safe"

"How many people do you have in this fleet" Gabriel asked "Are they fully crewed?"

"Yes master Sabbath they are fully crewed" Saul answered "In fact for interior defence we have three regiments of Imperial Guard scattered among this fleet an-"

"You have a force of Imperial Guard!?" Ishta butted in.

"Yes we do" Saul replied.

"We saved them when the planet they were defending fell to a Necron invasion" Aisha added "After that they just stuck along with us and eventually joined us"

"We also have another four divisions of our own defence forces or Shadow Guard as they like to be called" Seth said while indicating the soldiers dressed in the old Sith armour that accompanied them "Two companies of our own space marines legion, an order of Battle Sisters along with around five hundred Jedi knights and masters"

"You have your own order of Jedi knights" Gabriel asked, obviously surprised until he opened himself up to the force, then he felt hundreds of force signatures reach out curiously, the warmth and peace that emanated from this place was amazing.

"Yes we do" Revan replied "But there's only about a tenth of them in this fleet, many are what the Eldar call wanderers while others are out on missions or with other fleets"

------

Sasha sat cross-legged on the floor of her quarters, her mind completely submerged in the forces currant, the force was in turmoil in this galaxy, it felt stormy in some places while in others it just felt like voids had opened up, the darkness within them whispering into her mind, stretching out with shadowy tendrils to try and overcome her mental defences, immediately she retracted her touch from that part of the force and concentrated more on the calmer flows.

She was meditating because she felt something familiar in the force, it was feint, like it was very far away, perhaps several light-years or half a galaxy away but it was there. She relaxed into the forces flow, confident that she could find the source of this power, all she needed was time. Silently she reached out across the void of space, touching the power source and immediately retracting her touch as it was returned, a mental voice whispered into her head.

"_Sasha?"_

------

If there was one thing that Gabriel had to admit about Alana it was how far she had come since the day he had first started to instruct her, she was no longer the timid little girl who didn't know one end of a lightsabre from the other, in fact she had become quite the skilled duellist who was close to mastering the basic strikes of the Shii-Cho lightsabre form as well as beginning studies with other, more difficult forms like Soresu and Makashi, she was even trying her hand on the acrobatic Ataru form.

Now however she was in the training chamber of the _Reverent Blade_, a chamber that he guessed once was a part of the once massive hanger but was now cornered off and walled, bright lights illuminated the now painted white walls, the floor was made of black marble with black training mats dotting it. On one of these mats was his apprentice, her lightsabre ignited in her hands as she danced and whirled like an expert, deflecting low-energy blaster bolts from three hovering training drones, her every movement flowed like water, she had obviously been practising.

She wasn't the only one in here, there were dozens of Jedi knights in the chamber, either duelling each other in impressive, gravity-defying lightsabre duels or practising alone against training droids and drones, many of these Jedi were humans but he also spotted individuals from different alien races whom he had never seen before, probably from the unknown regions of the galaxy, he also spotted aliens that he had heard off.

Sighing Gabriel rose from his sitting position and wandered over to his apprentice, they're master/apprentice bond telling her that he was approaching, she deactivated her lightsabre and turned to her teacher, her youthful features practically glowing with force energy, ever since she set foot on the _Reverent Blade _she seemed at peace for the first time since he had meet her, not that he blamed her, the force signatures of so many Jedi made even him feel at ease.

"I hear from Ishta that you are improving vastly" Gabriel said, smiling.

"Really?" Alana replied, quirking an eyebrow disbelievingly "I still think I need a lot of practise"

"Not from where I'm standing" Gabriel countered "And I think I'll prove it to you"

He then unclipped his lightsabre and activated it, Alana got the point and activated her own and the two blades met in a hail of sparks, as fast as they met the blades disconnected, both Alana and Gabriel spun, their blades spinning in their hands as they attacked and countered each others moves, each one dancing around the others attacks and as they duelled Gabriel smiled proudly. She was getting stronger, faster, realising her potential piece by piece and he had no doubts that with a bit more guidance and discipline she would surpass him.

Leaning against the entrance to the training chamber Ishta watched the girl she had helped train and smiled appraisingly, Alana had taken her advice and training very seruiously, her movements, her stance, her strikes were as elegant and unpredictable as an Eldar Banshee's. she had a belief in humans that a farseer, a friend of her mothers once said, _Humanity mean't well but they were too young to fully understand the consequencies of their actions, _she had always thought of Macha as a strange one, even by the standards of a farseer. The human Jedi were different, they seemed older than their race was and were much more cautious, with this train of thought she turned around and walked down the spacious corridors of the rogue battleship wondering where the future would take them.

------

Revan sighed tiredly before running his gaze over the confines of his quarters, on the walls of the chamber were display cases full of weaponry from sets of rifles, pistols, melee weapons. There were different types of blasters, lasguns, plasma-rifles, bolters, splinter weapons, power-weapons, vibro-weapons, witchblades, war-hammers and standing out from the rest was a weapons case made out of oak, within were the hilts of a least twenty lightsabres, as Revan walked by he put a hand on it, feeling the life energies of their previous owners, friends and family who lost their lives in this monstrous galaxy. As well as the weapon cases there was a comfortable couches and chairs as well as a large desk, made out of polished oak, the legs made to look like the ancient Sith hounds of Korriban. Calmly he walked behind the desk and sat down on the chair, he took off his mask and setting it on the desk ran his turquoise eyes over the shadowy room before managing a tired smile. With a flicker of his thoughts lights came on illuminating the entire chamber.

"You can come out" he murmured "I sensed you the moment you stowed aboard my vessel"

The ranger appeared from the decreasing shadows like a ghost, his mesh armour and green cloak caked in mud and gravel, his exotic sniper rifle leaning against his shoulder as he took several steady steps forward. His head turned to regard the room before it resting on the immortal Jedi.

"I heard that you'd have a collection of weapons to rival any privateer" he said, his gaze suddenly rested on a display case that held the lightsabres of his fallen brothers and sisters.

"Why is a Ranger of the infamous Biel-Tan wandering around one of my vessels" Revan said before smiling wryly "I doubt it is just to see my weapons collection"

"If there is one thing I can't stand about your breed of humans it is the sarcasm" the ranger growled before reaching into one of the many pouches in his armour and pulling out a data-chip, uncaringly he threw the chip at Revan who caught it instinctively and pushed it into his holo-computer, an image of a planetary system appeared in front of him, it showed thousands of warships that he had never seen before, orbiting a number of strange moons that he guessed weren't created through natural means.

"What is this?" Revan asked.

"A possible threat to the entire sector" the ranger replied "One of my fellows sent me this, the system in question was empty six months ago and suddenly this massive fleet appears, no ship movements, nothing"

"What do your Farseers say about this?" Revan asked as he scanned the images.

"I haven't showed them yet, or the council of the young king" the ranger replied "I thought you would know something about them considering you are from another galaxy"

"I have never seen them before" Revan replied.

"My fellow was able to see them in action against an Ork fleet" the ranger said as he sat down on a chair on the other side of the desk "Their technology is considerably advanced and not of any race he had seen before"

"I know what they are" a voice said telepathically, the door opened and master Sabbath entered, immediately the Eldar ranger jumped to his feet, drawing an elegant combat knife from his waist sheath, Gabriel jumped back and grabbed the hilt of his lightsabre.

"You do" Revan said calmly as he rose "Then who are they?"

"They are known to my galaxy as the Yuuzhan Vong" Gabriel said as he let go of his hilt but continued to eye the ranger "And they are feared in my galaxy as bloodthirsty monsters and religious fanatics, especially the warriors"

"Really?" the ranger asked as he sheathed his knife, but kept his gauntleted hand on the hilt "And why exactly are they remembered so infamously to you humans?"

"Not just us but every race in the known galaxy" Gabriel replied calmly as he took a deep breath and began to recite a tail he had told a hundred times since coming here, a story of a bloody, galaxy spanning war that cost trillions of lives, sent several sentient races to extinction and devastated countless worlds.

------

Meanwhile at the very edge of the Tau empire a massive battle was taking place on one of their outer colonies, in space around the main planet hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong warships exchanged weapons fire with Tau vessels and defensive platforms, on the ground thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, backed by their living war machines clashed with the planets Tau garrison.

Platoons of fire-warriors poured plasma fire from their entrenched positions, dropping dozens of Yuuzhan Vong warriors and providing fire support to their Kroot allies while high up in the ruined tops of buildings, units of Tau crisis suits poured constant salvoes of plasma and rocket fire into the enemy lines mowing down dozens of Vong warriors.

The Yuuzhan Vong were gaining ground however as their siege creatures, massive 20m tall dinosaur like lizards named Rakamats ploughed through the defenders, their armoured bodies protected by specially modified void-shields and units of Yuuzhan Vong who manned projectile weapons on the siege monsters shoulders, dousing the Tau and Kroot who were lucky enough not to get crushed with streams of plasma as well as with razor and thud-bugs. Following the towering Rakamats were at least a hundred four-legged creatures, each one with a Yuuzhan Vong warrior riding on its back as they pounced on bewildered Tau warriors, tearing them to shreds with sharpened claws and teeth.

In space onboard the Vong's flagship _Claws of War _commander Har watched the space battle with interest, his vessels plasma projectors firing continuous salvoes of plasma while their torpedo tubes and missile launchers firing clouds of magma missiles which rammed into the Tau's front line of ships, the Tau in return firing back with plasma, ion and lance batteries, at the moment the battle was even both on the ground and in space.

Commander Har knew his duty and he knew his orders, this wasn't a battle of conquest but a diversion, his superiors, the Council of Supreme Commanders had ordered him to draw as many Tau defence forces to this place as possible to weaken other worlds, especially a little known planet known as Kilikas, nothing special besides the small shipyard in its orbit.

More Tau warships jumped into the system, the second wave of reinforcements to come into the system in the last hour, they were a little far from the battle however and uncaringly Har drew his attention to the explosions and flashes of weapons fire of the main battle, a Tau _Orca-class _frigate disappeared, its elegant, long necked, bird like design vanishing in a ball of fire and wreckage. On his side a massive flash of light brought his attention to one of his flagships escorts, a _Matalok _cruiser was cracked in half by combined long range fire from the first wave of Tau cruisers.

Commander Har grinded his teeth as another _Matalok _took the destroyed ones place on the battle line, firing continuous streams of long ranged plasma fire from multiple plasma projectiles. His reserves were starting to slime but he knew he had to hold this position or his invasion force on the ground would be cut off, he only hoped that Commander Jym's raid on Kilikas was successful.

------

Commander Jym watched from the pulsing command throne of his flagship, the _Poison _as another wave of Tau warships jumped out of the system to reinforce the planet that Commander Har was invading. His force was fairly small being made up of a single battleship, three _Matalok _cruisers and ten smaller gunboats, small but more than enough to cause serious damage in a hit and run attack, he picked up his amphistaff and pointed the snake-like living weapon towards the main viewport, the mouth of the deadly weapon hissing venomously.

"Let us begin!" he spat to his pilots, in unison the fleet jumped into darkspace and re-entered realspace right in the middle of the orbital shipyard, one of the gunboats smashed into the skeletal frame of an incomplete _Explorer-class _battlecruiser, the small warship vanishing in a ball of fire and tearing a massive, gapping hole in the side of the incomplete metal vessel, Jym growled, such risks were necessary.

Suddenly his fleet opened fire with every weapon system, streams of plasma and clouds of magma missiles crashed into the shipbuilding docks, the skeletal structures of incomplete ships and into the small attached space stations, within moments everything was either on fire or exploding, the main space station bulged in several places and exploded, the connecting walkways and restraints snapping like twigs as its burning husk fell to the surface of Kilikas.

Jym grinned, his ripped lips showing his deadly razor sharp teeth, he pointed the head of his staff to open space and in a rasping snarl of laughter ordered the fleet to jump away before the Tau defenders could react, they were quick though as streams of plasma and ion fire erupted from two charging Tau cruisers tearing another two gunboats to burning pieces and hitting one of the _Matalok _cruisers in several places on its portside hull, Jym heard the cruisers telepathic screams of agony before his fleet jumped into hyperspace. Mission accomplished.

"Order Commander Har to initiate a tactical withdrawal now" Jym shouted "We'll meet them at the rendezvous point!!!"

**Well what do you think? Sorry it took so long to update. I think that I was beginning to forget all about the Yuuzhan Vong and so decided to add a little on them this time around. In the next chapter I'll go back to the events on Terra, a meeting with the high lords, assassination attempts and the possibility of a major standoff. Wait for the next chapter…_Factions of the Imperium._**


	25. Factions of the Imperium

_**Chapter 24**_

_**Factions of the Imperium**_

"_I see you"_

**Captain Gabriella Rosso to an Imperium ****Culexus Assassin**

"So admiral" the master Inquisitor began "From the information that my agents have sent me I have gathered who you are, where you come from and whom you represent. This galactic alliance, which is a loosely tied alliance of empires and sectors which cover most of your galaxy is made up of the remnants of an empire known as the New Republic, another known as the Hapes Consortium and your Galactic Empire …correct?"

"Yes master inquisitor" Halos answered evenly, feeling a little frustrated over having to be asked the same questions again and again but inquisitor Vallace had told him that the Imperium high lords didn't trust each others information and so the master inquisitor was asking these questions to squash any doubts that his fellows had.

"And that you are indeed from another galaxy" the master inquisitor continued.

"Yes sir" Halos replied respectfully "My people were in the middle of a space battle with the remnants of an enemy empire, known as the Yuuzhan Vong. We hit an unstable device on their cruiser which opened up a worm hole which threw us to this galaxy, where we met up with your welcoming party"

"And my apologies for that hostile reception admiral" the master inquisitor replied, knowing of the incident surrounding their arrival "But as inquisitor Vallace has already explained we have been in a state of war with enemies that wish our destruction for over ten thousand years, usually anything that we have not seen before we immediately consider hostile"

"However" another high lord interjected sharply "We would like to know why you decided to choose to ask us for help after that incident instead of going to an empire which shares your ideals"

Halos considered his answer very carefully, he had explained to Robyn about their run in with the Eldar fleet that rescued them during the standoff at Magos IV, and who told them that their best chance of returning home lay with the Imperium. The inquisitor had nodded at this but told him not to tell the high lords of their run in with the Ulthwe taskforce.

"During the battle a trio of space marine strike cruisers jumped into the system and ordered the Imperium defence fleet to cease firing immediately" Halos explained, knowing that it was at least a half truth "Their chapter is known as the blood ravens and after stopping the battle they escorted us away to the forge world of Helios Prime where they placed us in the care of the Adeptus Mechanicus, we then preceded to trade technologies, we also fought battles with them against the enemies of humanity in the forms of the Dark Eldar and the Tyranids, we found that we had to help in any way that we can"

"Very noble admiral" another of the lords replied "However you believe that you can just walk into the presence of the god-emperor with an answer to all of humanities problems"

"Not an answer to all of your problems sir" Halos countered firmly, knowing that a show of weakness know would wreck everything "But a melding of your technologies and our own would give you an edge to your enemies, and if a way back to our home galaxy could be found, you would find that there will be powerful forces willing to help you against these enemies"

"And as we speak our tech-priests are already in the Magos systems looking for any remnants of the worm hole" the lord inquisitor replied "However the question remains, why do we need an alliance with your people, we are fully capable of defending ourselves"

"If I may interject master inquisitor" Silvermaine asked, gaining a nod from his superior "I feel that without these new technologies and allies the Imperium could begin falling apart within the next few hundred years"

Suddenly the room echoed with threats and disagreements from all of the high lords, all aimed at the elderly inquisitor, Joseph glanced over to Robyn questionably only to see the same confused look on her face, clearly the elder inquisitor was on dangerously thin ice at the moment, as the insults and threats died down one of the high lords set a murderous gaze upon the inquisitor.

"You cannot be serious" he said vehemently "Our crusade fleets are forever bringing new territories into the Imperium, our armies and fleets are repelling every outside invasion sent against us"

"Yet Lord Administratum we are also losing territories to the Orks, the Tyranids, Necrons and the Great Enemy" Silvermaine replied steadily "The Cadian gates defences have been devastated by the Chaos warmasters 13th black crusade, Armageddon is almost overrun with Orks, we have lost countless colony worlds to Tyranid splinter fleets and the Necrons, and that's just the outside problems for within out territories countless worlds are in a state of civil war, the Dark Eldar are continuously ambushing our supply convoys, our losses to the unsuccessful invasions of the Tau and Eldar territories are horrendously high…to put it simply my lords we need new technologies to fight and allies to reinforce us in our struggle!"

"If we can fight off the enemies of humanity for ten thousand years we can do it for another ten thousand" one of the High Lords spoke defiantly.

"My lords" Halos spoke up again "I have done extensive reading into your history and have found that after the events of the Horus heresy your technological advancements have almost ceased, you have been using the same technologies for the last ten thousand years, our technologies will strengthen your forces and further defend your worlds" he then turned his gaze to face each of the twelve high lords, ready to make his final statement "And most importantly of all you need the emperor back, one of our technologies can do this"

"What!!!" all of the high lords said in unison before breaking down into whispers and doubts, some were calling Halos a heretic immediately while other seemed to be interested "What do you propose admiral" the fabricator general asked, speaking for the first time.

"We have a liquid known as Bacta" Halos began "It is a healing contagion that my people have been using for thousands of years, it is well known for curing horrendous injuries like the ones that the god-emperor sustained when he fought Horus. All that you need to do is drain the healing liquids you have now in the golden throne and replace it with ours, after a few treatments the emperors injuries will have healed to the point where he can continue the process on his own"

"As interesting as that appears I will not do this without proof it will work" the fabricator general replied evenly.

"It will sire" Vallace spoke up "I and my fellows have done countless tests and found that it will work. We have the results with us know" the young inquisitor reached into a pocket in her cloak and pulled out a datachip, she inserted it into one of the many arcane slots on the table, a holographic image appeared in the centre of the table showing countless streams of information, the fabricator generals beard like tentacles extended forward and slotted into several sockets on his side of the table, for a few moments everything was silent as he processed the information then his bearded cables disconnected and he opened his eyes.

"There are two possible outcomes" he said evenly "Either the emperor will destroy the healing contagion and remain the way he is, or he will use his divine powers to keep it fresh and full of the needed nutrients, in that case he should be well enough healed to continue the rest of the process on his own within a year"

"So as you can see my lords" Joseph said to everyone in the chamber "You have everything to gain and nothing to lose"

"As interesting as this is admiral one new piece of technology is not enough for us to create an alliance with you"

"My scientists foresaw this and put this together for you" Halos replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out yet another datachip, without a word he inserted it into the table and pushed a few runes, everyone, even the inquisitors accompanying him looked on with interest, an image of a weapon similar to a lance battery appeared "This is a ship weapon system that my scientists and the Mechanicus tech-priests created a few months ago, it is a melding of your lance batteries and our turbolasers, it has twice the firepower of a lance battery along with twice the range and accuracy, you can fire upon your enemies with plenty of space between you, it has been tried and tested, it works"

"This is just a small example my lords" Robyn spoke up again, hiding a smile at the admirals plan, she had just gained a lot of respect for him today "They are also willing to share their superior starfighter and faster than light travel technologies"

The high lords exchanged looks amongst themselves, some looked genuinely excited while others appeared to be uncertain, one thing was certain however, the admiral had just given the twelve leaders of the Imperium something serious to think about "We thank you for your offer admiral" the master inquisitor replied "And we have been given a lot to think about, I feel we must adjourn and consider the findings, you will have an answer within a week"

At that the inquisitors stood, bowed respectfully and filed out of the chamber, Halos too rose, bowed and followed them before following the others out of the chamber. Once out the ARC troopers and space marines flanked them again, guiding them towards the shuttle pads.

"The bureaucracy here is as bad as the Old Republic" Halos whispered to Vallace "A whole week to consider what should only take a few seconds to consider"

"I think that a week is fast for the high lords" Robyn replied, hiding a smile "It usually takes them months, even years to come to a decision"

------

Captain Rosso walked down the spacious white corridors of her star destroyer towards her quarters, her shift was over and she had left the bridge to her first officer, as she continued on she considered everything that had happened through the last six months, wondering if they would ever get home.

Sighing tiredly she hit the button to her quarters and walked through the opened doors, waving off the sharp salutes of the two blue robed Alliance Guardsmen who stood at her door. As the door closed behind her she froze, feeling a stench of death all around her, gaining control of her feet she walked casually to her weapons case and opening it took out several small vibrodaggers, an assassins blaster pistol and a lightsabre hilt from her earlier days as an Imperial hand, before turning back to look at the dark confines of her room, usually the lights would come on as she entered.

She wasn't an average ships captain, her history as an Imperial officer began when she was found by Darth Vader as a child, she was found to be force-sensitive and made a hand of the emperor, one of his personal assassins and bodyguards, training in the ways of the force to become an adept as well as learning the basics of assassination, stealth and hand to hand combat.

A scream in the force was her warning and she dived forward just as several daggers hit the floor where she once was, she rolled and grabbing two vibrodaggers from her belt threw them where she guessed the assassin was, the daggers dug into the ceiling. Taking a deep, calming breath Rosso got to her feet and for the first time in decades activated her lightsabre, letting the familiar humming and heat from the red blade sweep over her before surrendering herself to the force, just in time to deflect several more assassin knives.

"I am impressed" a voice, mechanical and rasping whispered "You are indeed highly skilled for a ships captain"

"I can say the same to you" Rosso said as her eyes darted around the dark room, trying to find the origin of the voice but it seemed to echo making its source difficult to find, she opened herself up to the force, hoping that it would show her the location.

"It is useless" the voice said, as if knowing what she was doing "I have been conditioned by my temple to be invisible to the powers of the warp, in fact any psykers like you will find that their powers will be useless"

Rosso suddenly felt a breath against the back of her neck, and a warning through the force made her spin, her lightsabre blade colliding with the light blue hued blade of a power-sword, the assassin wore a skull like mask with bone white armour, covered with belts and satchels with a variety of blades, even with the mask covering his features the captain could feel the surprise through the force, she also saw that his entire form was like a burning fire.

"I see you" Rosso chided, a smile spreading across her face.

"How is this possible" he managed.

"Your not dealing with a Psyker of the warp anymore assassin" Rosso stated confidently, her face glowing an eerie red from the blade of her lightsabre "You are dealing with an adept in the force" she batted his power-sword away and starred into the black holes in his mask "I am Gabriella Rosso, captain of the Imperial Starfleet, former Emperors Hand" her eyes turned from the sparkling green to a sickly yellow as she spoke, making the assassin take an involuntary step backwards "And I am your opponent, feel the power of the darkside" she raised her free hand and discharged a bolt of force lightning from her fingertips.

------

Captain Florn sat on his captains chair, taking a sip of a cup of steaming hot Caf when he noticed a group of warships appear from the mass shadow of the red planet, their forms sizes telling the Twi'lek captain that they were cruiser sized Imperium vessels, their hulls were coloured a matt black and as the captain ordered their images zoomed he saw the symbols of the Inquisition imprinted on their sides.

"Get me Magi Durin" Florn ordered "And bring us to yellow alert"

When Durin's holographic image appeared his face was a mask of annoyance, but not directed at Florn "We know captain, we have been trying to contact them but haven't been getting an answer, I would recommend that you bring your fleet to yellow alert while we continue to try and hail them"

Before the Magi disconnected the transmission Florn saw several flashes of light from outside, he stood up and saw to his horror the star destroyer _Guardian _racked with several internal explosions, in some places the superstructure burst open with red fire and wreckage before finally the bridge tower vanished in an explosion of red fire, throwing wreckage in every direction. The captain fell into his chair, his face a mask of horror as the _Guardian _started to break up, he shook it off and turned to the bridge crew.

"Battle stations" Florn shouted "Power up the turbolaser batteries, raise shields, prepare starfighter squadrons for emergency launch" At that moment a series of explosions rocked his vessel, nearly knocking the captain off his feet.

------

Joseph and Robyn could only watch in horror as the _Guardian _started to fall apart in a storm of red fire and wreckage, then a series of explosions struck the star destroyers _Spirit of Ithor, Dominator _and the _Vigilance, _the superstructures bulging and exploding in several places, spilling out equipment, wreckage and dying people.

At a glance the stormtroopers rushed into action, using the buts of their blasters to knock out the stone faced Kasrkins with well timed hits to the backs of their heads, two of the ARC troopers then rushed into the cockpit, levelling their E-11 blasters at the surprised pilots ordered them to continue onward to the _Vigilance_.

Robyn could only look on in shock before the admiral grabbed her, his face red with anger and his eyes murderous "What did you people do!!?"

"We did nothing admiral" Robyn managed "This is the work of assassins, someone high up doesn't want the Emperor of mankind back and they don't want us to ally ourselves with you"

Before Halos could respond he saw several black hulled vessels approach his shattered fleet, out of all of the ships in his fleet he saw that only the _Vengeance _seemed undamaged, it along with the _Emperors Fire _moved between the inquisition vessels and the disabled star destroyers, their weapon systems powering up and their shields flickering to life. Halos released the inquisitor and moved into the cockpit, he set a murderous stare at the pilots before pointing towards the _Vengeance _"Take us to that star destroyer, and don't try anything stupid, my boys are very good shots"

------

"You will move out of the way Magi" the Inquisitor said, his form hidden within black robes and his face contorted in a sick smile "We are simply preserving the purity of the Imperium, the emperor must remain on the golden throne, it is the only way he can keep a constant vigil on the galaxy"

"We will not move" Magi Durin replied, his mechanical voice bellowed to the point that the bridge around him seemed to vibrate "This taskforce is under the protection of the Adeptus Mechanicus!"

"You will move" the inquisitor replied "You are hopelessly outnumbered with one of the infidel's star destroyers as your backup!"

"My lord" one of the serfs on the inquisitors side shouted "We have several Mechanicus vessels appearing from orbit, six _Mars-class _battlecruisers and an _Emperor-class _battleship!!!"

"You see inquisitor we have foreseen that your kind would try this for some time" Durin said "By the emperor these people bring with them the promise of a new age within the Imperium, a age where the Emperor leads humanity once again, where new technologies emerge and new alliances made to give us the edge, we will not lose this chance simply because of a couple of inquisition purists!!!"

"You traitorous heretic, you are making a huge mistake Magi" the inquisitor shouted angrily but the transmission was cut before he could continue.

"That's enough of that" the Magi said to himself with an exasperated sigh before shouting "My brethren, let us prepare for war!!!"

**Sorry it took so long but I've been bogged down, what do you think, I wanted to add a little surprise with the fleet and I felt that Rosso wasn't living up to her full potential in the story, anyway the stage is set, the Mechanicus and the Inquisition are at a standoff with the damaged forms of the Allaince fleet between them, who will win, who will lose…keep watching to find out! Oh and if I made a mistake with anything let me know.**


	26. Clash of Titans: Part I

_**Chapter 25**_

_**Clash of Titans**_

_**Part 1**_

"_Fight fire with fire"_

**Captain Florn**

The lightning bolt slammed into the assassin, sending him flying backwards and smashing into the wall at near bone-breaking speed, as he slumped to the floor Rosso took the chance and broke out into a run, her lightsabre spinning over her head, she plunged the blood coloured blade into the deck where the assassin once was, surprised she spun just in time to see the assassin at the other side of the room, a bolt pistol in his hand. He aimed and squeezed the trigger, sending a hail of bolt rounds towards his target, the ex-emperors hand weaved her lightsabre, hearing the fizzing as the rounds crashed into her lightsabre, disintegrating on impact.

As she deflected the last round she found the assassin charging her, he skidded to a halt and swung his power-sword in a sweeping arc, Rosso jumped back missing the blade by millimetres before bringing her own lightsabre down in an attempt to cut him in half, the assassin sidestepped her and swung his power sword, the imperial captain tried to duck but was a split second too slow as the blade grazed her left shoulder, drawing blood, ignoring the shot of pain she did a handstand and kicked him in the side of his head, sending him corkscrewing in midair and landing roughly on the deck, he rolled and came back up to his feet, throwing several knives as he did so.

She tried to deflect the projectiles but one made it through her defence and imbedded itself into her shoulder, she screamed in pain before the assassin drew his bolt pistol again and fired of a round, she tried to dodge but the bolter shell hit her square in the left leg, exploding as it impacted, she screamed again before receiving a stiff kick to her abdomen, throwing her roughly to the ground. It was then that the two Alliance guardsmen entered the chamber, hearing their captains pained screams, they saw the assassin and raised their blaster rifles, unleashing a hail of crimson blaster bolts. The assassin back-flipped, missing the crimson bolts by millimetres, he then corkscrewed to the side, landing in a crouch and grabbing the hilt of his power-sword charged the guardsmen, he ducked the butt of the first guards blaster and drove the sword through his abdomen, exited through his back.

Kicking the guard off his sword he dodged another hail of blaster fire and charged the last guard, to his credit the guardsmen dropped his blaster and drew a pair of vibrodaggers from his belt, he crossed the smaller weapons just in time to meet the power-sword, the guard then tried to deliver a kick to the assassins stomach, but the assassin skidded backwards, missing the kick and swinging his power-sword in a sweeping arc, slicing the last guard neatly in half.

Smiling he turned back to the crumpled form of the captain who was leaning against one of the bulkheads, her teeth clenched in pure agony, he spun his massive sword in his hand before surging forward, ready to finish his mission, he brought his sword over his head and sliced downward, the sword met the crimson blade of her lightsabre, she held the impressive weapon single-handed, her entire form trembling with the effort, suddenly the lightsabre was switched off, the sudden shift in weight made the assassin lose balance and he fell forward, the lightsabre reactivated and extended through his stomach and exited his back.

"Rule one, a force-sensitive is never completely defenceless" she managed through hacking coughs. She then froze, the force essence from the assassin was growing brighter, like the dying flames of a fire, she realised what was happening and gathering the last of her strength force pushed him away, his dying form flew into her sleeping area and with a flick of her wrist the transparisteel sealing door closed, she heard a massive explosion at the other side of the door and realised why his essence glowed like it did, he was a living time-bomb, if he died he would take his target with him.

She suddenly felt groggy, groggier than she should, darkness began to cloud her vision and it was only then that she realized what was going on, the assassins blades were covered in poison, and she got hit by them twice, as she began to lose consciousness she felt the superstructure of her star destroyer shake as weapon batteries impacted its shields, she lost consciousness just as a group of stormtroopers rushed to her side, shouting to get her to the infirmary.

------

Magi Durin gritted his teeth as the Inquisition black-ships opened fire on the recently arrived Mechanicus forces, spraying their shields with lance and plasma fire, in return the Mechanicus vessels returned fire and released swarms of thunderbolt starfighters from their hangers, the little fighters meet with their Inquisition equivalents in the middle of the two forces and began skirmishing with each other in deadly dog-fights.

In response to this the last able star destroyer _Vengeance _released her contingent of starfighters, X-wings, Tie Interceptors, A-wings, K-wings and Tie Defenders flew across the void to help the Adeptus Mechanicus' fighters. While the starfighters were soaring towards the battle admiral Halos stalked onto the bridge of the _Vengeance_, Inquisitor Vallace and the ARC trooper squad right behind him.

"Where is Rosso!?" Halos said, getting control of his anger for the moment.

"She was found critically wounded in her quarters sir" her first officer replied, a young man who didn't look old enough to buy a drink "Along with the bodies of two Alliance guards and what was left of an assassin, she's being rushed to the infirmary"

"Great" Joseph growled under his breath "Get me Magi Durin!"

"What is it admiral?" Durin asked as his image appeared.

"Where are we needed?"

"Order your starfighters to break off their assaults and move in on the Inquisition black-ships" Durin said through gritted teeth as his vessel rocked from a direct lance battery hit "They can disable those ships so we can board them, I don't know about you but I want some answers from that scrawny inquisitor"

"Agreed" Halos replied "Let's show them what turbolance batteries can do as well, shall we?"

Immediately the _Emperors Fire _and _Vengeance _came on line and fired from a safe distance, long thick beams of destructive energy lanced across the void and smashed into the lead Inquisition ship, a _Lunar-class _Cruiser, the newer weapon systems disintegrating the void shields in a few barrages before chewing through the hull armour, as ordered a group of K-wing bombers came up behind the struggling cruiser, dodging anti-air fire left and right before releasing their payload of proton bombs, aimed at the engines, the bombs collided with a great flash, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the engine compartment of the cruiser, leaving it dead in space.

Once that was done the Mechanicus ships, lead by the _Emperor _battleship _Lord of Machines _moved in, firing continuous streams of lance and plasma fire on the Inquisition black-ships, aiming for their engines and main weapon systems, two more Cruisers succumbed to the superior force and lay dead in space, their main weapon batteries and engine compartments erupting in fire and wreckage.

"Admiral" one of the radar operators shouted "One of the cruisers has gotten past us, its heading for the fleet!"

Halos spun on his heel just in time to see an _Avenger _Cruiser lumbering towards the fleet, to far away for the _Vengeance _to intercept "Alert the Magi" Halos said "Turn us around, fire at will!"

The _Vengeance _turned around and went after the cruiser at full speed, firing sporadic turbolance fire from its new batteries, but they were too far away from the cruiser who was now within firing range of the fleet, but instead of firing with its lance batteries it unleashed several black pods from its hanger, which flew towards the fleet at high speed.

"Insurgence pods" Vallace growled "Their not going to destroy the ships, their going to board them and take them by force!"

"That's if they get through that first" Halos replied, pointing towards the disabled star destroyers, clouds of starfighters were rising from the _Vigilance _and the _Spirit_, moving towards the incoming cruiser like a horde of angry Mynocks, but it was too late for the first wave of pods smashed into the tattered hull of the _Dominator _and the _Vigilance_, ploughing through the hull armour.

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The pods broke through the durasteel bulkheads of the two star destroyers and allowed their payloads of Arco-Flagellants to run lose, these monsters where the inquisitions special shock units, once humans who where subject to extensive physical surgery and mental reconditioning. Their mechanical forms implanted with a devastating array of weapons and chemical stim injectors, once released on the field of battle they injected themselves with deadly combat stimms, turning them into deadly, berserk killing machines that felt no remorse or pain.

They rushed through the corridors of the star destroyers, killing anything with a pulse, the stormtroopers, Alliance marines and Guardsmen managed to take a few down as they charged but once they were on them they hacked and cut them to pieces, leaving a horrific scene of dissected bodies and blood spattered walls as they continued on. Blaster fire, slashing sounds, screams of fear and agony were a giveaway to where they were and a deadly silence was testimony to where they had been.

From the bridge captain Florn felt sick to his stomach as the screams of the dying and the slashes of the Flagellants resounded through the bridge, he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes before turning of the ships comm. The crew of the bridge were feeling the same and some where on the edge of extreme panic.

Without a word the captain rose from his command chair and walked towards a control console that was barely used, he pulled out a keycard and slotted it into the console, his hands then danced across the keyboard, disabling safety locks and typing in passwords, the admiral said never use these things unless there was no other choice, well Florn thought, there was no other choice, it was either unleash the deadliest weapons the empire had ever created for combat…or perish.

Finally the last barrier was passed and without a word the captain pushed a red button in the middle of the console.

"Fight fire with fire" he muttered under his breath.

By know the Flagellants had broke through to the hanger bay and attacked the remaining pilots and soldiers, within moments the hanger was in chaos with alliance soldiers being torn to pieces, they managed to take down a few of the creatures but they were just too fast. Suddenly several of the large storage containers in the back started to steam, their doors opening revealing the dank interiors, silhouettes of massive creatures stood unmoving within, the darkness was suddenly illuminated with flashes of light, dozens of eyes opened up to the world for the first time in decades and the sound of moving mechanical joints finally got the attention of a few of the Flagellants, they stopped what they were doing and moved towards the storage containers, it was then that the empires own monsters stepped into the light.

**Its short, I know, but bear with me on this. I have wanted to do this for a long time, pit the monsters of the Empire against the monsters of the Inquisition, if anyone knows who these guys are, then you'll thoroughly enjoy the next chapter, **_**Clash of Titans: Part 2.**_


	27. Clash of Titans: Part II

_**Chapter 26**_

_**Clash of Titans**_

_**Part 2**_

"_One of the empires deadliest creations. These are what the rebellion had nightmares about during the Galactic Civil War. They are known as Dark Troopers and they were the emperor's experiment to bring battle-droids back into the maelstrom of battle"_

**Admiral Joseph Halos**

The beings that walked out of the storage crates were as large and bulky as a space marine but their armour was similar to that of Imperial stormtroopers, but their armour was pure black instead of white, adding to the air of intimidation that they seemed to spread, in their massive hands were large blast cannons, powerful enough to tear through almost any heavy armour and melded to their backs was a jump-pack and the sheath for a massive vibroblade, the huge beings looked up at the Flagellants, their eyes turning from pure white to deep black as their final systems were brought online.

"What are they?" Robyn asked, watching from the bridge of the _Vengeance_ as the massive creatures got into a skirmish line, their blast cannons pointed at the Flagellants. Outside the battle between the Adeptus Mechanisus and the Inquisition was only getting fiercer, with the warships now skirmishing with each other side by side.

"One of the empires deadliest creations" Halos replied, his voice serious "These are what the rebellion had nightmares about during the Galactic Civil War. They are known as Dark Troopers and they were the emperor's experiment to bring battle-droids back into the maelstrom of battle"

"I'm sorry" Robyn replied "Battle-droids"

"For the empire!" the lead dark trooper, told apart by the white and red strips that decorated his armoured form said, his voice so mechanical that Vallace could only look on in horror. Battle-droids, Artificial Intelligence!

It was then that all hell broke lose; the dark troopers cut lose with their blast cannons, sending a deadly hail of tracer blaster bolts hurtling towards the Inquisitions flagellants, several of them were cut down, the bolts tearing through metal and flesh alike. However the Inquisitions attack dogs recovered quickly, skidding sideways and charging towards their much bigger opponents, this was the ultimate fight, the ultimate test of their mettle, this was speed against brute strength.

The hanger bay was chaos within seconds as the skirmish lines of dark troopers fired continuous streams of blaster fire, stormtroopers and alliance marines retreated towards the battle-droids adding their own weapons to the already deafening assault from the blast cannons, the Flagellants proved their speed by twirling and somersaulting, dodging the deadly barrage with practised ease and finesse.

They charged, the blades attached to their hands slashing out at the dark troopers in particular, one hit home, jumping on the larger trooper and started slashing its armour continuously with its elbow and wrist blades, the massive black armoured droid dropped its blast cannon and with one giant hand grabbed the Flagellant's head and crushed it before dropping the lifeless creature to the ground. The scars of the fight were clearly shown with slash marks cut straight through the armour and helmet, leaving exposed and sparking circuitry. By know many of the dark troopers were forced to drop their ranged weapons and either unsheath their large vibroswords or fall back upon hand-to-hand combat to fight off the Acro-Flagellants, some where faring better than others as a dark trooper fell to the ground, its head rolling halfway across the hanger.

"This ship has its own contingent of dark troopers, does it not?" Halos asked as he watched the battle deteriorate into an all out brawl, reserve Imperial and Alliance soldiers were pouring into the hanger, spilling volleys of blaster bolts and heavier weapons upon the Flagellants, it was only a matter of time until those monsters were eradicated from the _Vigilance _and he saw the same scene take place on the _Dominator._

"Yes sir" the first officer replied "All of the star destroyers have them"

"And do they have atmospheric strike pods?" Halos asked.

"Yes sir but I don't see…" the officer stopped short, a smile crossing his lips "Ah, I see"

"You learn fast son" Joseph said with a nod "Place twenty dark troopers into the pods and prepare to launch them at that ship" he then pointed to the vessel within the protective lines of Inquisition black-ships, a _Retribution _battleship which ship listings say was called the _Inquisitor of Wrath _"Let's play the Inquisitions game, shall we?"

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Magi Culsis gritted his teeth as a _Sword-class _Frigate disintegrated under the fire of a nearby Inquisition cruiser, its hull exploding into several places before it began to descend towards the red planet, its entire form vanishing in red and orange fire before it entered the atmosphere of the Imperium's chief forge-world. His battleship was under heavy bombardment from a trio of _Lunar-class _cruisers, their lance batteries firing what looked like continuous streams of lance energy.

The old Magi had seen many things in his nine hundred years of life, he had starred into the warped eyes of the horrors of chaos, the dead orbs of the Necron menace, the hungry gaze of the Tyranids, he had faced the mystical energies of the Eldar, the feral bloodlust of the Orks and the hate burned eyes of the Dark Eldar but this was something that he had never faced before, in all of his years as a Magi he had never had to face a fellow warrior of the Imperium, a fellow loyal son of the God-Emperor, but the actions of the Inquisition could not be ignored.

He saw a trio of Marauder bombers, painted with the colours of the Inquisition dive towards his bridge, dodging the anti-air fire and prepare to launch their payload of plasma bombs, only they didn't get a chance as one of them exploded under a hail of red laserfire, another hail clipped the wing of the lead bomber, sending it barrelling out of control into open space, the last bomber broke away from its assault and ran just as a trio of Alliance X-wings flew by, their laser cannons firing continuously.

The Magi managed a smile, those X-wings were impressive fighters, in fact all of the Alliance fighters and bombers were impressive, being several generations at least ahead of their own starfighter technology, if the Imperium ever went to war with the Alliance the Magi knew that it wasn't their capital-ships that would scare him, it was their starfighter contingents.

He looked over at the single star destroyer that wasn't disabled as it moved ahead of the _Emperors Fire, _its weapons firing continuously, picking fighters out of the sky and exchanging long ranged fire with ships twice its size, further back he saw the silhouette of an Inquisition ship, he zoomed in and relaxed when he saw it swarmed with hundreds of Alliance starfighters, literally picking it apart with their lasers, anti-ship torpedoes and bombs.

"Lord Magi" one of the serfs shouted "The alliance vessel is firing something from its torpedo tubes!"

Culsis turned to inspect the small black objects that were soaring across space; they looked like atmospheric assault pods, were the alliance planning to board one of the Inquisition black-ships? His respect for them just rose, it rose even more when he saw the pods target, the lead Inquisition battleship, the _Inquisitor of Wrath,_ Culsis had to admit, the Alliance admiral either had a good strategy up his sleeve or he was playing a desperate gambit.

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The pods went through the space between the two fleets, moving relatively unnoticed to both the Mechanicus and Inquisition forces, they weren't noticed until it was far too late, the pods smashed into the heavy armour of the Inquisitions lead battleship, burrowing into the hull, once it broke through to the outer corridors of the Inquisitions vessel they opened, allowing their residential dark trooper to walk out into the dank corridors, each one armed with a blast cannon, with an oversized vibroblade and a jump-pack strapped to their backs.

One of the dark troopers starred intently at the other beings in the corridor that his insertion pod had burrowed into, a group of Inquisition storm troopers "Anything you can do" it said, its voice mechanical and flat, making it seem more terrifying "We can do better!"

The dark trooper raised its blast cannon before the storm troopers could react and pulled the trigger unleashing a deadly spray of tracer blaster bolts, within moments the squad of storm troopers lay dead on the ground, their flak jackets and exposed flesh steaming from dozens of blaster bolts. Without a word, or even a flicker of emotion the dark trooper started down the corridor, ready to do to the Inquisition what they did to the Alliance.

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As the last few guns of the Inquisition vessels went silent Magi Durin inspected the battlefield that surrounded his ship and grimaced, half of the Mechanicus warships that answered the distress calls were floating lifelessly across the red planets orbit, either disabled or charred husks. Gritting his teeth at the destruction that these Purists had caused the Magi saw the _Lord of Machines _launch dozens of rust coloured _Thunderhawks_, these small transports soared through space, landing within the hanger bays of the main ships and unleashing their contingents of Skitarii and Tech-Guard, the other cruisers and Durin's ship followed suit.

A large flotilla of thirty _Thunderhawks _flew across the wreckage strewn battlefield, landing within the massive hanger bays of the _Inquisitor of Wrath _and landed allowing their units of Skitarii and Tech-Guard to disembark, they meet their opponents head on as full squads of Inquisition storm troopers, lead by Inquisitors and Battle-sisters meet them, pouring hellgun and bolter fire into the disembarking Mechanicus soldiers. The Skitarii dived for the metal decking, unleashing controlled bursts of lasfire from their lasguns while the Tech-Guard, seemingly un-phased by the bolter and laser rounds that zipped past them charged their opponents, power-weapons held high and ready to strike.

Further within the battleship Sister Kate of the Adepta Sororitas scanned the corridor ahead of her with her hazel eyes, her fellow Battle-Sister Hera coming up beside her as she stopped, the sounds of lasfire could plainly be heard by now and with a wave of her hand a squad of storm troopers ran up past them to inspect the next corridor, their hellguns poised. Kate didn't know what was going on down here, all that she heard from her communicator was garbled reports from terrified scouts before loud gunfire abruptly cut the transmission.

The storm troopers rounded the corridor and were abruptly cut down as a hail of red laser fire cut through their armoured figures, sending their smouldering forms falling to the ground, both Kate and Hera took cover around a corner and raised their bolters, waiting for the shooters to appear, when a massive soldier, the size of a space marine, its armour was a pure black and a large, alien weapon similar to a heavy bolter held in its hands appeared, Kate and Hera didn't look at each other, they didn't need to, they knew what they had to do and pulled the triggers of their bolters, unleashing controlled sprays of bolter fire. The shots hit home and tore through the armour exposing whatever was underneath, instead of expecting flesh and blood their genetically engineered eyes saw exposed and sparking circuitry, the droid turned and raised its blast cannon unleashing its own salvo of blaster fire, the battle-sisters took cover just as the bolts hit the corner, leaving the wall cratered and charred.

Taking a deep breath Kate jumped out of her hiding place and poured bolter rounds at the droid, not taking her finger off the trigger until the bolter clicked empty, she allowed the empty bolter clip to fall to the deck and neatly slammed a fresh one into the ancient weapon, she then came down to a knee and aimed the bolter at the smoking corridor, her fellow battle-sister and friend coming behind her and aiming her bolter at that same smoking turn. The droid stumbled out of the smoke, its once unblemished black armour now cratered, scored and cut through to the circuitry underneath, the helmet was half blown away, showing the metal circuits and devices of its droid brain, despite all of the damage it suffered it still held its weapon in its hands.

As one the two battle-sisters fired another concentrated volley at the machine yet despite the serious damage it was taking it was able to raise its weapon and fired a concentrated stream at Hera, the woman couldn't dodge and took the blaster fire head on, the bolts ricocheting off of her power armour and eventually blasting through, she gave a pained scream and fell to the ground, enraged Kate grabbed a plasma grenade, pulled the pin and threw it at the machine before grabbing Hera and dragging her around the corner, she looked back to see the grenade explode, tearing its carapace chest armour to pieces and blasting it back to the far wall where it slumped to the ground, its black eyes turning white.

She looked down at her friend and felt hot tears brim her eyes when she saw a pair of lifeless eyes starring blankly up at the ceiling. She threw her head back and screamed in anger before grabbing her bolter and running down the corridor, fires seemingly lighting her hazel eyes with rage.

Meanwhile the battle had spilled from the hanger to the surrounding corridors as the Mechanicus soldiers pushed further into the battleship, Skitarii colonel Drake led his squad down the corridor and stopped short, hearing the sounds of weapons fire and explosions around the corner, he took a peak and saw that it lead to a large chamber, bodies of dead storm troopers littered the metal decking and in the middle were two dark troopers, standing back to back, their blast cannons releasing steady streams of blaster fire. Drake could only look on, watching the deadly symphony of death that the battle-droids unleashed with a mixture of fascination and revulsion.

Drake was about to lead his forces into the chamber when he heard a beeping from his communicator, scrolls of information rushed by his eyes and without a word he lowered his weapon, a scowl crossing his heavily augmented features, he saw that the dark troopers, unleashing death and destruction a few minutes ago now ceased firing, lowering their blast cannons.

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Admiral Halos watched as the two battleships entered the contested area of space, their colour schemes and symbols showing that one was from the Inquisition and another was from the Mechanicus, communications confirmed that they were the personal flagships of the Fabricator General and Maser Inquisitor, ordering all forces, including the Alliance to cease all hostilities at once. A mixture of relief and annoyance rushed through the admiral as he gave the order to shut down the combat protocols of the dark troopers.

While the Fabricator General pulled back his forces, including the damaged star destroyers to the orbit of Mars, the Master Inquisitor demanded that the lead Inquisitors surrender themselves and prepare for judgement by the High Lords of Terra, one of the cruisers refused and was torn to pieces by the hundreds of weapon batteries of the heavily modified battleship. After the show of the Master Inquisitors wrath the rest of the Inquisition forces surrendered without a fight.

Meanwhile the three damaged star destroyers were towed to a repair dock where swarms of drones surrounded them, beginning to make serious repairs to the tattered superstructures, rescue shuttles were sent out to the destruction site of the _Guardian _in hopes of finding escape pods, sadly though there weren't any, the entire crew had gone down with the ship.

The med-bays of all of the star destroyers were full to capacity, there simply weren't enough healers to deal with the tide of wounded that flooded in and eventually medics and healers from the Mechanicus and Inquisition vessels under the control of the master of the Inquisition were allowed in to help, within the _Vengeance _captain Rosso floated in a Bacta tank, letting the healing liquid purge the poisons from her system and begin healing her wounds, the embedded bolter round in her left leg had been removed but she wouldn't be using it for a long time. The admiral managed a small smile of relief when she opened her eyes.

His communicator beeped to life and sighing tiredly he grabbed it and thumbed the small device on "Yes?"

"Admiral" the youthful voice of Rosso's first officer responded "We've just received a request by the Master Inquisitor and the Fabricator General for permission to board the _Vengeance_"

The admiral nodded and lifted his right hand to massage his temple, he knew that this would happen eventually but not so soon, it was times like this that he felt that he needed the advice of a Jedi master "I see, well, give them clearance and tell them that I will greet them personally"

**So was it any good? What will Halos next move be? Will the Alliance fleet recover and will Halos continue with his proposal? In the next chapter we will return to the Star Wars galaxy and return to the forces of Chaos story arc, the Ssi-Ruuk/Chaos Conflict is nearing its conclusion.**


	28. The Second Eye

_**Chapter 27**_

_**The Second Eye**_

Admiral Sre'Awl scanned the flickering holographic images, showing a battle taking place just outside of the capital world of the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium, several dozen Ssi-Ruuk capital ships, with at least two hundred picket ships were exchanging fire with a massive force of Chaos warships, the supreme commander of the Ssi-Ruuvi space forces flinched as another battlecruiser flickered from existence, along with at least a half dozen pickets, the Chaos fleet was at least three times the size of their scouting fleet and the admiral knew that this was just a first wave, to test the combat capabilities of his system defence forces.

This war, being quickly known as the Ssi-Ruuk/Chaos Conflict had been raging for near three months know and three quarters of the Imperium had been taken over by this new threat, the attack was quick, sweeping over the sector under the control of the Imperium like a stream of water over rock, over ninety percent of the already decimated fleet had been destroyed during these few months, along with at least three planets and their overall inhabitants. To put it short, the ruthlessness of the enemy was winning the war. A beeping sound drew the supreme commanders attention back to the hologram where the last battlecruiser had been destroyed and the first wave was jumping towards the defence lines of the home-planet.

_Lwhekk_, the capital world of the Imperium and the home-world of the Ssi-Ruuk race was the last real barrier, the last real fortress that kept these forces of Chaos from completely taking the Ssi-Ruuk's territories. As he looked across the war room at his fellow officers including generals, admirals and rear-admirals, all talking to each other in hushed tones about strategy and how impossible it was to stem the advance of these monsters when they had failed at _Keerama_, _Lythena _and _Felonne_ which were all as heavily guarded as _Lwhekk _and yet still fell to the Chaos invasion, the numbers that seemed to get in under their radar were just too many for the Imperium to repel and considering that they attacked well into their territories and moved outwards like a cancer only made things worse.

"Supreme Commander" one of the aides roared from the radar stations of the war room "They have arrived"

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From the bridge of the battleship _Eternal Agony _daemon prince Anubis surveyed the defensive lines of oval shaped warships and defence platforms with an amused expression, the war was not completely one sided, the defence that these reptiles put up on _Lythena _was valiant and brave, managing to repel the first wave of Chaos ships before the second wave destroyed the surviving defences and the world itself was exterminated, just like _Felonne _and _Keerama _before it, the destruction of these worlds was not random, on a galactic map the worlds that they destroyed made up seven points of an eight pointed star, with this planet making up the eighth point, once this world was destroyed then his true plan would be realized and the forces of Chaos would have a true foothold in this new galaxy.

With a pointing of his clawed right hand the daemon prince spurred the two battleships, ten cruisers and thirty support craft of different classes into action, firing continuously with their hundreds of lance and plasma batteries, thousands of Switdeaths and Doomfires launched from the hangers of the Chaos vessels in clouds of metal and weapons, engaging the pyramid-shaped droid fighters of the Ssi-Ruuvi's defence forces in amazing mass dog-fights. Small explosions surrounded the traitor warships as they pushed forward towards the battle line of orbital defence platforms.

Once in range they combined their firepower into the centre, tearing platforms and picket vessels to pieces, clearing a path for the small force to move through, it was then that the second and largest force jumped in from the warp right behind them, just within range of the orbital defences, made up of at least ten battleships, fifty cruisers and over two hundred escort vessels, they were brought under fire by the defences almost immediately, thousands of silver energy beams and clusters of torpedoes sped towards the traitor lines demolishing dozens of escort vessels and leaving cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships heavily damaged, some were floating lifelessly away from the battle line, their hulls punctured and smoking in several key places.

The remainder of the Chaos vessels returned fire, their lance and plasma batteries destroying countless warships and orbital defences, the few remaining ships that survived the barrage charged forward, their weapons firing continuously and their hangers releasing swarms of fighter drones, the main vessels were picked off one by one by the heavy lances of the chaos capital ships, the drones were another story, too small and fast to get a lock the anti-air weapons of the fleet were firing sporadic volleys, their own fighter escort being overrun by the swarms of drones, but the only thing that they were good for was quantity and the chaos fighter pilots, hardened by hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of dog-fighting with enemy ships proved the better over the drones, unknowing that with every ship that they destroyed they released an imprisoned and tormented soul to the afterlife. Eventually only a handful of drones remained and Anubis, ignoring them as a nuisance pointed towards the planet.

"Place the fleet around the planet" he ordered "Our conquest here is almost over"

As the surviving Chaos vessels positioned themselves around the planet the Ssi-Ruuk called Lwhekk, they immediately came under fire from dozens of planetary defence batteries, destroying six more escorts and two cruisers before they were finally in position.

"Unleash the Exterminatus!"

As one the warships fired their lance batteries upon the capital world of the shattered Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium, targeted cities were turned into smouldering craters, sudden earthquakes, tidal waves and volcano eruptions ripped through and across the planets surface, completely remaking the landscape from a forest covered paradise to a scene of smouldering planet-wide fires, continents were broken apart and the great oceans themselves began to boil and evaporate, the daemon prince felt the deaths of millions, perhaps billions of beings and relished the feeling that the warp sent. The warp around this star cluster began to change, its pure feel giving way to swirling dark colours of pain, anger and most well felt…fear.

The planet exploded under the stress of the orbital bombardment, but instead of falling apart its surface turned from red fire to pure black as the shadows of the recently contaminated energies of the warp began to pour into the world once known as Lwhekk, onboard his vessel dozens of Chaos Sorcerers sat in a circle, their heads bowed, mumbling dark, forbidden incantations and spells, energy spilled out around them, a mixture of many hundreds of dark colours, some of which the human eye could not interpret swirled around them like a tornado of screaming voices.

This same congregation of sorcerers was repeated on the other battleships, the black legions entire contingent of sorcerers all taking part in this amazing and terrifying display of warp mastery. Like a star going supernova the world exploded outwards, unleashing dark, swirling tendrils of colour in every direction, the tendrils extended to the far reaches of the star cluster and encompassed it in its terrifying and insane power.

The Second Eye of Terror, the bridge between galaxies had been born, its birth sent powerful shockwaves streaming across the entire galaxy, tearing open recently closed wormholes, no one was excluded from the shockwaves, and it hit the force sensitive's the most.

------

The death screams of the star clusters original inhabitants echoed out, not just through the warp but the force as well, on the planet Ossus, where the Jedi had rebuilt their main temple Luke Skywalker was forced out of his meditation by the powerful shockwaves, he rose instantly and scanned the faces of the other masters around him, including his wife Mara-Jade Skywalker, they were all forced out of their trances, lest they be thrown like rag-dolls across the meditation chambers by the incredibly powerful shockwaves.

"Sith-spit" Kyp Durron spat, his features going pale from the outburst of dark energies "What in the name of the force was that!?"

"I now that disturbance" Luke said gravely as he breathed in a steady flow of oxygen to calm himself "When the Death Star destroyed Alderaan, when the Yuuzhan Vong decimated Ithor, only on a much larger scale"

"The Chief of State needs to be informed of this" Cilghal added, the Mon Calamari females usually salmon coloured skin seemingly drying out from the psychic shockwave.

Luke nodded and closing his eyes felt the distress and shock from every single master, knight and padawan within the temple, all slowly calming themselves down, it wasn't them he was worried about, it was the younglings in the crèche, they including his four year old son Ben were terrified beyond rational thought.

A flare of warning from the force made him bring his attention to where Kirana Ti was sitting, the former witch of Dathomir looked up at him curiously before he realized what was about to happen.

"Kirana" Luke said, his voice laced with worry "Get away from there!"

Kirana hesitantly rose to her feet and walked over to his side, the other masters within the meditation chamber following suit, they all felt it within the force, something was about to happen, a portal tore through the air where Kirana once was and dropped several beings into the meditation chamber in a heap, they immediately jumped back to their feet and in response the entire chamber resounded with the activation of a half dozen lightsabres.

The beings spun to face them, each one carrying a sword that's blade seemed to glow with barely contained energy, they were fairly human like in appearance, except they each had a pair of white feathered wings that sprouted from their backs and they wore shinning armour that was silver and gold in colour, they looked truly intimidating, yet beautiful at the same time.

Luke and his fellow Jedi didn't back down, instead they fell into lightsabre combat stances and waited for their strange opponents to make the first move. They didn't move, instead they looked at each other as if wondering where they were, drawing slightly confused looks from the Jedi, it was Luke's wife Mara who finally broke the silence.

"Who are you!?"

------

On the planet Bakura, the only barrier between the Ssi-Ruuk and the rest of the galaxy recently elected Prime Minister Malinza Thanas glanced at the datapad in her hand, her people had just gained a full sector fleet from the Alliance as a thank you for their help during the Yuuzhan Vong War, she managed a tired smile, her planet had been trying to gain a sizeable defense force for decades, know with three Mon Calamari _Home One-class _Star Cruisers, five _Victory-class _Star Destroyers along with another thirty support craft to reinforce their three destroyers and two Ssi-Ruuk carriers, recently captured from the Ssi-Ruuvi's failed attempt to invade Bakura just two years ago, they could properly defend their little sector of space.

More good news followed, the P'w'eck who had rebelled against their former masters were settling in well with the human population, with many becoming a part of the defense forces both in space and on the ground, they had also brought a further three _Shree-class _battlecruisers with them, after freeing the entrapped souls and re-modifying them with Alliance technology they were ready to be added to the fleet, let the Ssi-Ruuk try to invade them now.

She relaxed back into her chair and silently thanked the force, Leia Organa had lived up to her word, she would have expected no less from the sister of Luke Skywalker, the man who helped take care of her when her mother, whom was a close friend of his was killed during the Correlian Insurrection. As she sat remembering the past her aide rushed into her office, his face a mask of horror.

"Madam Prime Minister" he managed "I think you should see this!"

Malinza got up from her chair and followed her aide to the main office of the planets parliament where a small crowd of politicians had gathered around a holo-set, she glanced at the hologram and froze, it showed the Ssi-Ruuk star cluster, only it seemed encompassed by swirling colours of energy.

"These images are just coming in from a spy satellite outside of the Ssi-Ruuk star cluster" the news reporter, a female human explained "As you can see the sight is incredible, its almost like the entire cluster vanished under this unnatural cloud of energy, the chief of state, Cal Omas, has called a meeting of the senate to decide on what course of action, if any, there is to take, meanwhile Imperial Grand Admiral Gilad Pallaeon, also Alliance Supreme Commander of the GACF has made it abundantly clear that he will send a fleet squadron to investigate"

------

Deep within the daemon infested bowls of the Eye of Terror, where the traitor legions of Chaos called home a massive rip in the warp itself opened, shining with the daemonic energies of the warp, it stretched out into the void between galaxies, its openings large enough to swallow up an entire solar system, within the warp trillions of Daemons of different shapes and sizes howled their cursed war cries and cackled with evil laughter, gaining the attention of the four Chaos gods.

Khorne, the blood god, slowly began to take form several thousand kilometres away from the opening that lead to the newly created second eye, his entire body covered in bronze armour, with gold embroidering, the armour along with the exposed skin seemed to be covered by running layers of blood, his face, which was half covered by his helmet showed a pair of blood red eyes, he finally took form and unsheathing his ancient sword, pointing the blood covered blade towards the opening, the entire weapon pulsed with barely contained power and its whispers drove any daemons nearby into a frenzy.

He sensed where this portal lead and he revelled in the thought of a new galaxy, one that had never known the horrors of Chaos and therefore wouldn't be ready for them, but that galaxy, he knew, was only half of the battle, there were daemons in this new area of the warp, daemons who were unspoilt and untainted by the ruinous powers of chaos.

However he also felt the shockwaves of the second eyes birth rage through the two galaxies, reopening rifts in space, wormholes recently closed were forced open again and as he focused on their unique signatures he screamed an angry cry of rage, a wormhole had opened, and of all the places in this wretched galaxy it had to open in the Sol System, where the corpse emperors capital-world of Terra was situated.

**Well what do you think, it's my first time writing about a Chaos god so bare with me on this okay? Anyway who are these people who appeared in the Jedi's chambers and what will happen know that a wormhole is opening between Terra and the SW galaxy? Find out in the next chapter.**

_**Jedi Master Sabbath**_


	29. A Proper First Encounter

_**Chapter 28**_

_**A Proper First Contact**_

The skies of the temporary Alliance capital world of Denon, a city world within the galactic core, similar to what Coruscant once was came alive with light blue energy as the wormhole materialised just over a hundred thousand kilometres away from its orbit, the defence forces acted immediately as just over a hundred Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari Star Cruisers of different types broke orbit from their docking platforms and surrounded the newly created rift in space, their weapons primed and their scanners at full power.

A 19km long _Executer-class _Star Dreadnought known as the _Leviathan_, recently commissioned into the Alliance navy from the Mon Calamari shipyards, stood out from the others, dwarfing the smaller cruisers with its intimidating sword-like design, from the bridge Gilad Pallaeon, Supreme Commander of the combined Alliance space forces watched the beautiful swirls of the wormholes maw, the Supreme Commander wasn't a young man, in fact at eighty years old most men his age would have retired by know, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawks, showing that despite his age he wasn't decrepit, and his combat experience made the former Grand Admiral an essential part of the naval forces.

"Send in a probe droid" he said simply "Let's see where this wormhole leads"

"Yes sir" his aide said before relaying the order to the rest of the bridge, by the messy look of her long auburn hair the supreme commander guessed that she was asleep when the alarm sounded.

The _Leviathan _fired a probe droid from one of its two dozen frontal proton torpedo tubes, it flew across space and vanished through the void, once at the other side the probes pod disintegrated allowing it to escape into the new system, it immediately lengthened its communications antenna and started babbling old Imperial codes back to the other side, images appeared on the super star destroyers holo-projectors, showing a city planet similar to what Coruscant once was, surrounded by the deadliest orbital defenses that the Supreme Commander had ever seen, lines of powerful defense platforms that looked like they could tear an armada to pieces dotted the planets orbit, with several massive, spire shaped space stations, and thousands of warships of different shapes and sizes clustered in and around the defense zone, Pallaeon heard the gasps of amazement and fear from his bridge crew.

Over a hundred ships broke orbit and hovered towards the wormhole, their sizes ranging from a kilometer in length to twelve kilometers, their armoured hulls covered with hundreds of deadly weapons. Without taking his eyes off the sight the Supreme Commander spoke.

"Order the entire fleet to break orbit" he said to his aide "Every combat ready ship, just as a precaution, and get me the Senate"

Even as he spoke he saw yet more warships launch from their docking platforms, from Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari Cruisers of varied type to older Dreadnought Cruisers, _Providence-class _Destroyer/Carriers, _Nebulon-B _Frigates, Hapan Battle-Dragons and _Nova-class _Cruisers, a swath of escort and picket ships swarming around them, from the far orbit of Denon's moon he saw the similar form of the second _Executer-class _vessel in the planets defense force, _Nightshade_, hover towards the strengthening line of warships.

"Supreme Commander" he heard his aide say, pointing towards the probes feed "Those ships there look like some of ours"

Pallaeon turned back to the feed and saw what his aide was pointing at, a small group of battered warships, docked in one of the many orbital docks surrounding a red planet; he recognized those ships immediately as four old _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers.

"Sir we're being hailed from the other side of the wormhole" an aide shouted from the crew pits "Its registering as an old Imperial code under an Admiral Halos"

"Joseph" Pallaeon said almost instinctively, he knew of the strange disappearance of the admiral's fleet over Coruscant nearly a year and a half ago, most of the galaxy knew about it "Put him through"

"It's nice to see a familiar face Grand Admiral" Joseph said as his image appeared on the deck, Pallaeon looked the man up and down, he seemed exhausted from lack of sleep, his skin was pale and there were noticeable bags under his eyes.

"Admiral" Pallaeon greeted, keeping his surprise at seeing the man in check "I heard from reports that your fleet was destroyed in the defense of Coruscant"

The admiral managed a tired smile in response "Reports of myself and my fleets destruction have been greatly exaggerated sir, with your permission we would like to return home"

"Permission granted admiral" Pallaeon replied.

"Thank you sir" Halos said "And I have several members of the Imperium of Mankind who are also asking for permission to pass"

"Imperium of Mankind" Pallaeon asked.

"That's the name of the most powerful empire in this galaxy sir" Halos replied "In fact we are in their capital system now"

"You and your fleet may come through admiral" Pallaeon said "But the Imperium officials will have to be cleared by the senate, can you tell them that"

"Two of their leaders are right here with me sir"

The image wavered and flickered as another two beings appeared on the deck, both were human, one was dressed in black robes and held a long staff in his pale right hand while the other wore red robes and seemed to be half machine, with implants and mechanics covering much of his exposed skin.

"Grand Admiral" Halos began "I introduce to you the Master of the Inquisition and the Fabricator General, two members of the ruling body of the Imperium"

------

The atmosphere was so tense that it could be cut with a knife, the six Jedi masters stood unmoving in their lightsabre combat positions, a mixture of blue, green, red and violet blades alive and humming in their hands, at the other side of the chamber were the three armoured forms of the intruders, their wings spread out like a group of predatory birds ready to strike, their hued blades held in their hands. Finally Mara broke the silence.

"Who are you?" Mara asked "What are you?"

"We are Warp Angels" one said, the voice feminine "Who are you?"

"We are Jedi" Kyp answered, his crimson lightsabre held firmly in his two hands.

"Jedi?" another said "What are Jedi doing in the warp?"

"What do you mean" Cilghal said "You just appeared in our meditation chambers, this is the Jedi temple of Ossus and if you do not sheath your weapons we will be forced to act, there are a lot of younglings and padawans here that we are obligated to protect"

The three beings looked at each other and sheathed their swords, in response the Jedi deactivated their lightsabres and clipped them to their belts. Finally the lead _Warp Angel _took of her helmet, letting cascades of golden hair fall past her shoulders, as she finished taking it off the Jedi saw a beautiful, human-like woman with long gold hair that fell to the small of her back like a mane, pale yet smooth skin and red eyes that seemed to flare with some kind of incredible power, she glanced at each of them and bowed deeply, catching the Jedi off guard.

"My apologies for the intrusion" she said, scanning each of the six masters in the room, they were all powerful, she realized, but the man with ice blue eyes felt different from the others "I am River, Warrior-Priestess of the _Temple of Fire_, these are Fire-Guardians Tirana and Ikari" The two others simply nodded, not moving to take off their helmets.

"I am Luke Skywalker" the ice blue eyed human replied "This is my wife Mara-Jade Skywalker, Kyp Durron, Cilghal, Kirana Ti and Corran Horn"

"And you are six of the highest ranking Jedi here" she asked.

"I am the Grand master of the Jedi" Luke answered "My fellows are High Masters, half of the recently elected master's council"

The warp angel nodded, once again running her gaze over all present and smiled warmly, she drew her sword, making the Jedi immediately place their hands on their lightsabres, but instead of moving in to attack she simply threw it to the ground, her two guardians following suit.

"We have no cause to fight you Jedi" she said simply "In fact we have a favor to ask of you"

"Such as?" Kirana asked, River looked the woman up and down, she wore the simple brown robes that the rest were wearing, her hair was a deep auburn and long, running down past her shoulders, her eyes and skin were a dark brown and besides her strange energy weapon she also held a sort of staff, made of a strong wood in her right hand, a symbol of another force-sensitive order, she realized.

"We ask for sanctuary"

------

After a full two hours of recalling patrol fleets from across the sector, the supreme commander considered that they had a fleet about the same size as the one the Imperium had on the other side of the wormhole. Thousands of starships had answered the call, with an additional four _Executer-class _Dreadnoughts and three 17km long Mon Calamari _Viscount-class _Star Defenders adding their considerable firepower to the already impressive welcoming party.

The four Star Destroyers under Admiral Halos had already come through the wormhole and one look of them told the supreme commander that they had been through hell, three of them were practically running on fumes, their hulls dotted with quick repair jobs that he hadn't seen since the fledgling Rebel Alliance, only the _Vengeance_, the new flagship of the admirals fleet was in descent shape as it came up alongside the _Leviathan_, docking along its portside.

The Supreme Commander waited for just over ten minutes until the admiral arrived on the massive bridge of the command ship, looking just as exhausted as he had looked on the hologram, the armour of the two stormtroopers that had accompanied him were chipped and sliced in several places, making them look like they had survived a number of deadly battles.

"Admiral Halos" Pellaeon greeted "Welcome home"

"Thank you sir" Halos said, a smile forming on his face "It's good to be home"

"The senate has agreed to allow the Imperium's diplomats to enter the system" Pellaeon said "But before we give them permission to enter our space I would like your opinion, what can we expect?"

"Well sir" Halos began, taking a deep breath "The Imperium's methods will seem barbaric to you at first, they are xenophobic and have a strong taboo against artificial intelligence, so I would recommend keeping their forces away from non-human worlds if you allow them access, they can also be rash and quick to judge, even before they fully understand a situation" he stopped and studied the old man before him, wondering if his words were having any effect, the Supreme Commanders face remained impassive "However after seeing the enemies they had to face over the last few millennium you would understand that they appear barbaric because those were the methods they needed to take to survive, there are enemies in their galaxy that would give the Yuuzhan Vong, or even the Galactic Empire in its prime a real run for their money"

"Go on" Pellaeon said simply.

"There was a time sir when they weren't such a militaristic power" he continued "Their leader, an immortal being known as the God-Emperor embarked on a great campaign to bring all of the human worlds in the galaxy together, protecting them against all threats, at their height they had the potential to turn into something similar to the Old Republic in its prime, it had good relations with several other alien powers. But that promise died when the leader of the military, a Warmaster named Horus and half of his Primarchs, the emperors own generals turned their backs on the Imperium and began a deadly, galaxy spanning civil war, they took half of the Imperium's space and ground forces, including half of their greatest warriors, the space marines with them" he took a deep breath and started again "The war was brutal and devastating, many worlds, along with their inhabitants were exterminated, after several years they attacked Terra, the Imperium capital directly and with the aftermath the Warmaster was killed, his forces scattered, but the battle cost the Imperium, they lost their God-Emperor, whose injuries were so severe that they had to place him on a life-support machine known as the Golden Throne, ever since the Imperium slowly began to deteriorate into what it is today"

"I see" Pellaeon said thoughtfully as he turned back towards the view-port, showing the breathtaking display of power and beauty of the wormhole "Admiral, our first duty is to defend the Galactic Alliance, and all of its citizens and worlds against any threat, therefore if these people present a direct threat to the populations, including the alien populations you would tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes sir"

"Well, are they a threat?"

"Definitely sir" Halos replied steadily "However I have made an offer to their ruling body, the High Lords of Terra that I think you will find interesting"

"Oh"

"Our medical technologies are far superior to theirs" Halos began "And I have made an offer to use a supply of our Bacta to replace the fluids in the Emperors golden throne, with him once again at the head of the Imperium I feel that our future developments will go smoother"

The former Imperial Grand Admiral thought this through and had to admit that it was an interesting proposition, with what he had just heard about this God-Emperor of man he would feel much safer in negotiations "I have to admit Halos that you may have a good idea, but what other offers have you made them?"

"Trading agreements sir" Halos replied "Schematics for an older version of the hyperdrive, the turbolaser battery and the tractor beam projectors, among a few, more minor arrangements"

"How old exactly was the hyperdrive schematics" the Grand Admiral asked pointedly, knowing from the preliminary reports sent to him that the hyperdrive was one of only a few advantages that they had, if it ever came to war, he knew he was being pessimistic but a military leader had to consider such things.

"I gave them the hyperdrive schematics from the Ruusan era sir" Halos answered with a smile curving his lips, the Ruusan era, or the New Sith Wars as the time was more commonly known happened over a thousand years ago "While it is considered fast to them, to us it is obsolete, being five sixths slower than our own, I had my engineers down tune our own hyperdrive's to make it look like we had given them our best faster than light technology"

"I have taught you well my student" Pellaeon appraised.

"One of the first things you taught me sir" Halos agreed "Never give away state of the art tech to a power that may become a threat to you"

"Well spoken" Pellaeon replied with a smile "I might make a Grand Admiral out of you yet"

"I look forward to that day sir" Joseph said with a smirk "So when are we expecting our guests to arrive?"

"Within the hour"

------

An hour later the Imperium fleet came through the wormhole, first to arrive was at least twenty small ships, ranging in size from 500m in length to the size of an _Imperial-class _Star Destroyer, they peeled away from the wormhole with military precision to allow the bigger ships access, eight bigger ships where next to come through, ranging in size from 4km to 9km in length, they too peeled aside, finally two large warships came through the wormhole, at least 12km long each, their hulls covered with plasma and lance batteries, the smaller vessels formed up alongside their larger comrades and firing up their engines came forward. From the bridge of the flagship of this expeditionary force recently made Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine starred out in awe at the incredible display of firepower set out before them, he knew exactly what this meant.

_Welcome to our yard, but don't try anything funny._

Standing beside him was Inquisitor Vallace, her delicate, beautiful features also starring out at the welcoming party in awe, her gaze seemed fixed on one vessel in particular and as her teacher followed her stare he saw that his old apprentice had a good eye, a massive warship, at least 19km in length, 5km longer than the _Retribution _battleship he was on, approached them, its design was sleek and deadly, similar to that of a power-sword, he smiled. _So that is an Executer Star Dreadnought, it's bigger than Halos described._

The battleship, with an escort of six new stream-lined _Galactic-class _Star Destroyers came up to them and stopped alongside them, showing them just how large the dreadnought truly was, he heard a snort from beside him and turned to see the military leader of the force, he was a fairly old individual with short white hair and beard , his eyes were a sharp blue with a scar running down his left eye, this was Admiral Alexander Julius, a man who was present at the last two Black Crusades.

"Sure it's big" he snorted "But looks aren't everything, I bet with two battleships I could blow it out of the sky"

"Keep your weapons powered down admiral" Silvermaine replied, meaning not just the ships armaments but his tongue as well "I don't think testing their most powerful warship would be what they consider peaceful negotiations" he then looked out at the clouds of warships surrounding the city-planet "And that Dreadnought isn't the only one in their arsenal, there are seven similar sized vessels in this system"

"Very well Lord Inquisitor" Julius replied, obviously disappointed at not being able to test the _Leviathan. _But if these negotiations went well then he may see such vessels in action soon enough, hopefully alongside his forces.

"Sir we are being hailed" one of the officers reported.

"Put it through"

The holographic image of an old man, wearing a white uniform encrusted with gold appeared before them, he looked around eighty years old, his face showed the signs of age with trimmed white hair and an equally well trimmed moustache, his brown eyes seemed to stare into their very souls, and when he spoke the voice demanded attention "Inquisitors and Admiral, welcome to the Galactic Alliance, I am Gilad Pallaeon, Supreme Commander of the Alliance Starfleet"

From the shadows of the bridge the Lord Inquisitor, along with Robyn and the Admiral stepped forward "Supreme Commander Pallaeon I am Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine, we request permission to board your vessel"

"Permission granted Lord Inquisitor"

------

Far away from the monumental events of Denon, between the world of Bakura and the anomaly a full fleet squadron of warships, known as _Reaper Squadron_, travelled the hyperspace ways, one 3km long _Gauntlet-class _Star Destroyer, three _Galactic-class _Star Destroyers and two _Liberty-class _Mon Calamari Star Cruisers made up the bulk of the force with over seventy support and picket vessels.

At the lead of the fleet, onboard the _Gauntlet _Star Destroyer _Deliberator_, Admiral Vensis sat on his command chair starring out at the streaming star lines that passed by his fleet, no matter how many times he travelled through hyperspace he would always consider this sight one of the most beautiful in the galaxy. He relaxed into his command chair listening to the steady hum of the ships great engines, the beeps and hums of the control consoles and communications systems of the bridge, inside the man was an explorer who had always wanted to travel unknown routes and discover new worlds and races, he smirked at this, he should have been born several thousand years earlier when such a thing was commonplace.

The Arkanian Admiral also relished the chance that his fleet was going on a simple investigation mission and not as part of an invasion of an enemy stronghold, or defence of a threatened world, this would be simple, he and his men would be the first to see this strange phenomenon that enveloped the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium, little did he know that this seemingly simple investigation would be anything but.

------

The _Thunderhawk _transport fired its propulsion systems as it entered the massive hanger of the _Leviathan_, coming to a halt in the centre of the kilometre long hanger, the ramp-way lowered and Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine, followed by Inquisitor Vallace, Admiral Julius and a full squad of heavily armoured Battle-sisters walked onto the metal decking, ahead or them, positioned in two long lines on either side of their route was a contingent of blue robed Alliance Honour Guard, not a simple squad like on Halos ships but a full company, their blaster rifles shouldered and their vibroblades sheathed. Behind the right line was roughly a battalions worth of Alliance marines, set out in at least five lines, their blaster rifles held ceremoniously against their chests.

As the Imperium contingent began their march forward the Lord Inquisitor took a passing glance at the guardsmen, many were human but there was also aliens among their number, his psychic senses showed that everyone was tense, including his own contingent, this was obviously a new experience for both the Admiral and the Battle-Sisters who on a normal day would usually shoot an alien instead of walking by them.

He looked up to the rafters of the hanger and immediately saw why there weren't many fighters in the bay, they were above them, hundreds of them set in racks, one on top of the other from X-wings and A-wings to TIE Interceptors and Defenders. They continued walking until they reached the Alliance contingent, at the lead was Supreme Commander Palleaon with a small group of admirals behind him, including Admiral Joseph Halos and a man dressed in the brown robes of a Jedi knight.

"Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine" Palleaon began "Welcome to the _Leviathan_"

"Thank you Supreme Commander" the old Inquisitor replied "This is Inquisitor Vallace and Admiral Julius"

He then swept his gaze over the other members of the Alliance contingent, one he recognised easily as Admiral Halos but the other three he didn't know, two were dressed in the olive coloured uniforms of Alliance admirals, one was a middle-aged woman, although she looked considerably young, she had long coppery hair that seemed to stretch down to the small of her back, her features were smooth yet slightly pale and her eyes were a deep green, the other was a middle-aged man with dark brown hair, showing the first signs of going grey and brown eyes.

"You already know Admiral Halos" Palleaon began "This is Admiral Daala, General Antilles and Jedi Master Kyle Katarn" the Jedi then raised his hands and pulled back his hood showing a man with brownish-grey hair and beard, his eyes were a dark brown, the Jedi Master greeted them with a nod.

The Supreme Commander and his entourage led the Imperium delegation through the vast corridors of the Super Star Destroyer, the ships interior design was similar to one of Admiral Halos Star Destroyers, the white walls were similarly an immaculate white and well lit with aides, soldiers and, to their surprise droids going about their daily duties. They continued on until they came to a briefing room, similar in design to the one on the _Vigilance_ but it was three times the size.

"First of Lord Inquisitor I would like to say welcome to our yard" the Supreme Commander began.

"Thank you Supreme Commander"

"However we are worried about a few things that were in Admiral Halos report" Palleaon continued "Including his encounters with Imperium forces, one thing that concerned me was the constant hostile run ins with the Inquisition, first an attack by an Inquisitor called Delshon and then a surprise attack by an Inquisition fleet over your chief forge-world with the lose of one of our Star Destroyers, the killing of its entire crew, plus over fifteen thousand casualties on the other Star Destroyers"

Robyn flinched instinctively at the mention of the incident; Joseph had been like a ghost afterwards, as if the deaths of each man and woman under his command had put a weight onto his very soul, he had mistrusted the Inquisition before, but the incident at Terra had been the final straw, she wasn't surprised that he had reported about the incident.

"We apologize for our brethrens actions sir" Silvermaine said "It was inexcusable and I assure you that they have been arrested and tried for their actions"

"Nevertheless for future encounters we must ask that the Inquisition keep its black-ships out of our territory unless it has been agreed unanimously by the senate" Daala interjected "However the Admiral has expressed that you, Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine and Inquisitor Vallace are trustworthy and honourable people, you have earned his respect and trust over the last year and a half"

"We are honoured by his trust" Silvermaine said "And we will contact the High Lords and let them know of your request"

------

Deep within the dark energies of the second eye the spirits of all those who died began to gather, morphing together and forming a blob of warp energy, the blob slowly began to take shape, taking the form of a giant cocoon. All around the recently created cocoon were thousands of Chaos vessels of different shapes and sizes, their numbers creating a black mass, blotting out the swirling clouds around them.

They knew that this would happen, the incantations that the Black Legion sorcerers had used to create the second eye were forbidden by the four Dark Gods, even the God of Sorcery, Tzeentch, considered the incantation to be forbidden, because it was known to create powerful beings in its aftermath.

All that was needed was a catalyst, an emotion that dominated all of the others and in this case the Daemon Princes and Chaos Generals within the fleet felt that emotion as clear as day, they revelled in the feeling, like it was an addictive drug, this emotion was fear and it spread out across them like a tidal wave, its tendrils reaching out past the boundaries of the eye in a new breed of shockwave.

These waves of dark warp energy would only grow in intensity until the creature was born, and like the Eldar's fall, where Slaanesh was born the warp would echo and pulse with the laughter of another bloodthirsty dark god.

**Well what do you think, I've been planning on this chapter for some time and have been looking forward to putting it up, anyway in the next chapter the shockwaves from the second Eye will not go unnoticed for long.**


	30. Shockwaves

_**Chapter 29**_

_**Shockwaves**_

**I am considering turning this story into a saga, what do you think, should I keep it all in one story or spread it out among several stories.**

Mara-Jade Skywalker lead their three new guests down the vast corridors of the Jedi temple towards the living quarters, where they had agreed to temporarily accommodate their visitors, the Master's council was still unsure about the intensions of these strange beings, their story was that they came from another dimension known as the Immaterium, or the warp and that they were fighting with legions of dark warp daemons, and losing, the entire Master's Council was sceptical with the statements but when Luke had probed their minds for any hint of deception he felt none, nor did he feel any wish to harm any of the Jedi, so he had agreed to give them sanctuary.

Mara had agreed with Luke's decision and stood by him when others like Kyp had expressed their concern, the entire order knew of the disagreements between Luke Skywalker and his former apprentice during the Yuuzhan Vong Wars, but those heated arguments had long since dissipated, Kyp didn't challenge the Grand Masters decision like he did back then, he simply expressed his concern and Luke took note, posting a Jedi Guardian to each Warp Angel, the three of them were behind the Warp Angels, their hooded forms following their charges like shadows.

Finally they came up to the door to their guests living quarters, she inputted a password into the pad next to the door and heard the hiss as the doors opened, she lead their visitors into the chamber and showed them around, the living quarters were fairly simple with four bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms, situated around a central chamber which housed the living area and kitchen.

"If you need anything just ask the Guardians outside" Mara explained, her voice formal.

"Thank you High Master Skywalker" River thanked with a bow "If we need anything we'll let them know"

Mara nodded and in a fluent motion turned and strode out of the chambers, leaving their visitors to get settled in, the three Guardians bowed as she left and she stopped to bow in return before striding down the corridor. As she rounded a corridor she felt a familiar presence and slowed her stride, a smirk curling her lips.

"I can sense you half way across the galaxy Luke" she said "I think I can sense you a few meters away"

Luke appeared out of the shadows, a smile crossing his features "Just checking up on you Mara"

"Look _farm-boy_" she retorted, putting emphasis on the last word "I don't need babysitting, I've gone through this once already"

"Yes I remember" Luke replied mischievously "I got several grey hairs the last time"

Mara sighed tiredly, feeling her abdomen cramp up slightly, calling upon the force she banished it before looking back up at her husband "This isn't like the last time Luke, I'm cured of the spore virus the Yuuzhan Vong infected me with" she then placed a hand on her stomach "It wont be as difficult as with Ben"

"I know Mara" Luke said as he walked up beside her "But you're going to take it easy this time, promise me that as the pregnancy progresses you will take a leave of absence until after the baby is born"

She gave him a look but was too tired to argue, instead she leaned against him as they walked, feeling the reassuring arm of her husbands placed around her shoulder "Okay, okay, I promise"

"Good" Luke said, grinning.

"Just one thing farm-boy" she added with a smirk "I remember saying something to you before Ben was born"

"Oh"

"I think it was…'Skywalker, you are my love and my life, but if you do this to me again, I will vape you where you stand'…" she turned to him, a slightly dark smile touching her lips "Well?"

"Ah, well, um" Luke babbled, suddenly looking a little afraid "I thought that was the hormones talking"

Mara giggled at her husbands broken sentences before elbowing him in the ribs, bringing him abruptly back to the present "Anyway I'll leave you with that thought, we have a few more visitors coming"

"So you did read Kyle's report" Luke said in mock amazement "First time for everything"

"You don't need to read the report farm-boy" Mara replied "The entire temple is in an uproar about it, a wormhole opening in the temporary capital, that leads to another galaxy altogether"

"I know" Luke replied "But with that opening it's like an entirely new connection of the force has come along with it" he shivered slightly, wondering if this wormhole was behind the shockwaves "Its so dark, so full of pain, fear, anger, hate, suffering and death"

"All of the emotions that come with war" Mara replied sadly, remembering her time as an Emperors Hand, when she fed off those emotions like they were an addictive drug, if it wasn't for Luke, Leia and Han she would probably have been the next Sith lord, like her fellow Hand, Lady Lumiya had become.

"Just keep your fiery temper in check Mara" Luke replied "I hear that these Imperium types can be quite difficult to get along with"

------

The cocoon sat motionless in the fabric of the warp, a faint light beginning to show from within, making out the silhouette of the being under the weakening shell, with every thousand souls the creature got stronger, while the cocoon that was imprisoning it got thinner and weaker, another shockwave exploded outwards, destroying those Chaos ships and Daemons who were stupid enough to get too close thus adding their tainted souls to the rivers of trapped and tortured life energies that were penetrating the shell.

From the bridge of his battleship Anubis watched the now pulsing cocoon with a mixture of amazement and fear, he felt the tendrils of psychic shadow that were now extending from the shell, clawing at his mind and the minds of all nearby, several of the weaker traitor serfs were already dead, their bodies turning to dust as their lives were sucked from them, across the bridge a Chaos Sorcerer dropped his staff and fell to his knees, clutching onto his head and screamed as the eyes visors of his helmet shinned with multicoloured warp energy.

The Daemon Prince stood unmoving, his arms folded across his armoured chest and his eyes shinning with barely contained warp energy, he was simply putting on a show, making it look like he wasn't afraid but also giving a warning to the creature within the cocoon, he unleashed a charge or warp energy, making the tendrils clawing at his mind curl up and retract.

It wouldn't be long know, this new being would soon awaken, he could sense its strength reaching a pinnacle height and once this energy was discharged the space between dimensions would be torn asunder, the lines between the living and the dead destroyed, the shields between this dimension and the Immaterium shattered beyond repair, he looked up to the warped space above his battle fleet in time to see the massive, impressive form of the Dark God Khorne appear, blood oozing from his armour and his massive crimson blade held limply in his clawed hand.

------

In the space above Ossus two _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers appeared from hyperspace, their wedge shaped designs shinning in the light of the systems sun, a few moments later the Imperium _Mars-class _battlecruiser appeared from a tear in the warp, its size dwarfing its smaller escorts. On the bridge of the battlecruiser Inquisitor Vallace surveyed the planet where the new main temple of the Jedi order was located.

It was a fairly beautiful planet, once a wasteland it was terraformed by the Yuuzhan Vong and turned from a planet with a toxic atmosphere and barren wastelands to a new world of lush forests and savannas, teeming with life, it was one of the only few good things that the monstrous aliens had done during the war. After the war the Jedi repositioned their centre of power from Coruscant to Ossus, in an attempt to distance them from the political system of the Galactic Alliance and properly continue their role as peacekeepers.

"Imperium battlecruiser _Emperors Benevolence _this is Ossus control" the operator's voice resounded through the bridge "We have been told of your arrival, you are cleared to proceed"

Vallace nodded and spun on her heel, stalked out of the bridge, her two Battle-sister bodyguards flanking her as she walked down through the corridors of the ancient battlecruiser to the hanger where her _Thunderhawk _shuttle was. She boarded the small ship, waving off the sharp salutes of the unit of Imperial Guardsmen that would be accompanying her, once everyone was inside the shuttle fired up its engines and exited the hanger, a pair of Thunderbolts flying escort, as they left the massive form of the battlecruiser behind she saw four sleek X-wing starfighters, their hulls painted in different colours and designs, fly up from the atmosphere and join the Thunderbolts as they began their descent through the atmosphere.

All the while the Inquisitor sat in her chair, protected by her safety harness and looking at the screen of an Alliance datapad that she held in her hand, she wasn't sure what the information meant and why it seemed so important to Master Sabbath but the admiral was adamant that the information get to the Jedi. All that she knew was that it had something to do with that girl, Alana, something to do with her midi-chlorian count, whatever that was.

She knew fairly well that the reason why she was going and not an Alliance officer was because of the Denon meeting, obviously that Jedi, Kyle Katarn had contacted his superiors about the meeting between the Imperium and the Alliance. She was also going as a representative of the Imperium, this would be the Jedi's first real contact and as well as giving the Master's Council this data she was also going to try and negotiate with them, the Jedi were one of the most influential orders in the galaxy and gaining their support would go a long way to having the Alliance trust them. That's what her mentor said anyway.

------

Mara stood silently on the side of the landing platform where the Imperium shuttle was scheduled to land, the shadowy forms of four Jedi Sentinels, newly knighted just a few weeks ago stood behind her, she looked back at her assigned guard and smiled, they were nervous, their force auras were a mass of emotions and she didn't blame them, she had read up on the Inquisition and didn't like what she read, it sounded too much like Darth Sidious' own Inquisitorius, which were a secret branch of Imperial Intelligence, dark side adepts who were tasked with hunting down the Jedi and other, similar threats to the empire during its earlier years.

As the _Thunderhawk _came within sight Mara looked it up and down, it was a far cry from the sleeker Alliance and Imperial shuttles, in fact it looked ancient and battle scarred, its red paint was charred and chipped from dozens of near misses and ricochets, it landed clumsily and Mara considered that the vessel must have been difficult to fly, then again her experience with the _Millennium Falcon _had taught her that looks weren't everything.

Its ramp opened and the Imperial entourage stalked down the ramp, onto the metal platted deck of the landing pad, Mara moved swiftly towards the delegation, the four sentinels falling into step behind her. First to come down the ramp was a person who wore long black robes, vaguely reminiscent of the Sith, she held a long black staff, encrusted in gold with the form of a two headed eagle at the top, the robes parted slightly as she walked, revealing body hugging light armor which made Mara guess that this Inquisitor was a woman, next down the ramp were two other women, dressed in intimidating, slightly skintight battle-armor with large, deadly guns held against their chests, finally a squad of ten men followed, dressed in uniforms of different shades of green, a flak jacket and helmet, they were armed with some sort of blaster rifle, but Mara also saw that they had a combat knife and pistol attached to their waists.

Silently the ex-emperors hand sized them up in her mind, twelve guards for one Inquisitor, she guessed that the regular soldiers may not be much of a problem, she and her fellow Jedi could probably cut them down within five seconds, it was the Battle-sisters and possibly the Inquisitor herself that would be the problem, the lightsabres may not be much good against bolter rounds and their black armor may be resistant to blaster fire and possibly lightsabre strikes, she sighed, knowing that, unless something went drastically wrong, they wouldn't be fighting, but the experience she had gained during the Galactic Civil War and the Yuuzhan Vong Wars made her consider such things, old habits died hard.

"Welcome to Ossus" she greeted, bowing before the Inquisitor, her guards following suit "I am High Jedi Master Mara-Jade Skywalker"

The Inquisitor stopped and using her right hand traced the sign of an Aquila across her chest "High Jedi Master Skywalker, I am Inquisitor Vallace of the Imperium of mankind, it is an honor to stand on a world of the Jedi" She pulled back her hood revealing a strikingly beautiful young woman with long black hair and pale skin, her eyes were a deep, intelligent hazel which seemed to take in everything around her.

------

Robyn knew immediately who this person was, Master Sabbath had told her as much before he left on the _Firestorm_, this was Mara-Jade Skywalker, Jedi Master and wife of the Grand Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. At first Vallace thought that Mara was a master only because of her husband but Gabriel had quickly shot down those claims, saying that Mara fought long and hard and had become a master before she married Luke, she was also an incredibly powerful force-sensitive whose powers dwarfed even his own.

In response to Robyn pulling back her hood the Jedi woman did the same, long golden red hair flowed down to the small of her back as she pulled back her hood revealing a beautiful woman with smooth skin and near perfect features, her eyes were the deepest emerald green, seemingly looking into her very soul, the Inquisitor felt the confidence and power emanating from this woman, she also felt something else but couldn't figure out what.

"Inquisitor the Master's Council has gathered to greet you" Mara said, the tone of her voice warm yet formal "If you'll just follow me"

"Oh, yes, thank you Master Skywalker" Robyn said as she fell into step behind Mara and her guards, the battle-sisters flanked her but the Imperial Guardsmen stayed behind to guard the _Thunderhawk_.

------

Deep within the confines of the warp the creature within the cocoon was stirring, the rivers of souls used to sustain it were almost depleted but Anubis knew that they would be enough, he heard a loud crash, then another and another, finally a section of the cocoon was busted open, showing a hand, claws extending from its fingertips punch out into the warp, a pair of wings were next to break through the cocoon, long and covered in black feathers, they stretched out, blocking out the multicoloured lights of the second eye, within moments the cocoon exploded outward, destroying several dozen warships. Anubis shielded his eyes and mind as another bright flash signalled the next shockwave.

This one was much more powerful and once it hit the Daemon Prince he and his entire crew were thrown to the back of the bridge, their mental shields unable to properly block the discharge of energy, the battleship was pushed backwards by the power, as was the rest of the battle fleet, dark daemons were thrown across the fabric of warped space, many splattering into the armoured bows of the Chaos cruisers and battleships.

From his perch above the scene Khorn only looked on, his features spreading into a sickening, blood drenching smile, the newest Dark God of Chaos had been born., shockwaves powerful enough to rip the fabric of space and time exploding outwards in his wake, from the darkness a pair of blood red eyes appeared and a psychic voice boomed out across both Eyes.

_I am Shingai, God of Fear and I bring a new age of terror upon this galaxy!!!_

He wore armour that shone with the thousands of different colours of the warp, the black wings that spread out from his back flapped, causing a powerful gale of warp energy to cascade outwards, he looked fairly human in appearance but his skin was a dead grey and his eyes shone red with warp energy that could destroy even the most powerful Chaos Sorcerer, to look into those eyes would drive a mortal insane with horror and fear.

He threw his head back and screamed a roar that caused another powerful shockwave to be unleashed across the second Eye and flow outwards across the galaxy, Khorn was unaffected but the Chaos warriors shielded their ears with their hands, trying desperately to stop the shrill scream that threatened to pop their ears and burn their brains. Several serfs and cultists screamed and fell down dead to the floor, Chaos marines whom had fought against the deadliest foes in the galaxy fell to their knees, trying desperately to shield their ears.

------

On Ossus Mara felt the full extent of the shockwave, she fell to her knees, clutching onto her stomach instinctively to try and shield the baby, her entire body felt like it was being sprayed with blaster fire, she barely managed to glance over towards the Inquisitor who had also fallen to her knees, her staff rolling away from her as she held onto her head. The Jedi Sentinels and Battle-sisters also fell to their knees, some losing consciousness while others writhed in pain on the ground.

Across the entire temple Jedi padawans, knights and masters felt the shockwaves of energy, some falling unconscious while others screamed in agony, within the Council Chambers Luke felt the power before it struck and had his fellow High Masters create a force shield around their chambers, just barely keeping the shockwaves at bay, they tried to expand it outwards across the temple but the waves of power were just far too strong so they concentrated their barriers around the chambers and the crèche to try and protect the younglings.

Within the guest quarters the warp angels felt the power within the warp and were just able to raise their shields in time to try and keep them at bay, but the tremor of energy was far too powerful and their mental shields shattered, River dragged herself away from her convulsing fellows, she opened the door to try and find help only to find the three Guardians outside lying on the floor, writhing and convulsing in agony.

The aftershock followed, this one was powerful enough to tear the material realm apart, Mara felt a cold hue surround her, she forced her eyes open, ignoring the pain that coursed through her body, she saw nothing but a blue hue cloud her eyes. Her psychic senses spiking in warning Vallace forced her eyes open to see a blue hue surround Mara, her eyes widened in panic when she knew what it was, she dived forward, trying to tackle her out of the warp tear that was forming, she was a second too late as Mara disappeared in a flash of light.

From the chambers Luke felt Mara's presence vanish completely, he opened himself up in the force, searching desperately through the galaxy to look for her, there was nothing.

"Mara!!!" he screamed in panic, his concentration broke from the barrier he was holding together, his fellow masters strained to keep the barrier up without the most powerful Jedi among them.

------

The shockwaves in the other galaxy weren't as powerful but every Psyker and force-sensitive felt it like a bolter round to the head. Revan and his Grey Jedi were able to sense it before it struck the fleet and brought up a barrier to deflect the shockwaves of tainted warp energy. Alana and Gabriel were immediately brought out of their meditation, feeling a powerful darkness descend upon his home galaxy.

Within her chambers The Healer, one of the original twelve Jedi, Grey Jedi and Sith to grace the galaxy felt the tremors of warp energy and immediately retracted her touch through the force, lest she be detected by the Chaos gods, she had only felt this kind of power once before, during the Force Wars when the forces of Chaos had invaded their home world. Her violet skin turning several shades paler.

A new god of Chaos had been born and his power was frightening, only a handful of beings in the galaxy, including the other four Chaos Gods, the surviving Eldar Gods, the C'Tan Star-gods, the Twelve Masters combined and the God-Emperor himself could match it. She needed to find her brothers and sisters, only if they came together could they stand a chance to protect themselves and their children.

------

Deep beneath the Imperial palace of Terra, encased within the golden throne, the God-Emperor of humanity felt the power of the recently born fifth Chaos god and felt a strain on his psychic control, he enhanced his power tenfold, keeping this new power from striking his Imperium, the emperor had seen everything that had happened the last year and a half, he knew exactly what he needed to do, in order to face this new threat he needed to be healed, to escape this accursed throne and take up the mantle as God-Emperor of the Imperium, that was just the beginning, he also needed to gain the support of the Tau, the Eldar and the empires of the Galactic Alliance.

He gathered his remaining power around him and unleashed it towards the twelve high lords, he had not contacted a high lord in almost a thousand years, but the recent events had forced him to act, he put a thought into the heads of each lord of Terra, his voice booming with command.

_The future of the Imperium is at stake, I must be revived!!!_

**What do you think of that, a new Chaos God has been born and all will feel his wrath, will the forces of Chaos take the SW galaxy by force or will the Alliance stand strong? What happened to Mara Jade? What will the High Lords reaction be to their Emperors orders? All of this and more will be answered, hope you enjoyed it, read and review.**

**Oh, and I didn't just choose the name for nothing, I named the Chaos God Shingai because it means Terror in Japanese.**


	31. Episode I Epilogue

_**Chapter 30**_

_**Epilogue**_

_**The Fifth God**_

The dark shrouds and multicoloured swirls of gas within the second Eye of Terror were stirring, moving in towards the centre as if driven by some unknown force. The Chaos gods were manifesting themselves in one of only two places that they possibly could, the only place where their amazing energies could appear in solid form. The thousands of colours that made up the warp clouds swirled and mixed together forming incredible patterns.

From the massive wormhole which connected the two eyes together thousands of vessels of different shapes and sizes were arriving, from private cruisers and destroyers belonging to individual champions and sorcerers to massive battleships whose origins dated back as far as the Horus Heresy, perhaps even further back. The sheer mass of the warships seemed to converge into a giant cloud which blocked out the magnificent colours of warpspace and the planet that they were gathering around. The massive silhouette of a battle-barge appeared from the wormhole and immediately the hundreds of ships that were in its path banked away allowing the monstrous battle-barge to pass, they gave it a wide birth, lest they become the victim of the wrath of the battle-barges owner.

Deep within the battle-barge, known and feared throughout the other galaxy as the _Planet Killer _Chaos Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler stalked down the daemon infested corridors of his vessel, his pale, horribly scarred face set in a mask of pure, hate filled anger, he was about to begin a new conquest of the Imperium and was preparing to launch his attack when the Chaos gods had summoned him, telling him to report to this new Eye of Terror. He had felt the shockwaves of power which signalled the birth of this new Eye of Terror and the new Chaos god, Shingai.

Personally he revelled in the idea of a new galaxy to conquer, a new galaxy to enslave and shape as the forces of Chaos saw fit, perhaps once they had taken this galaxy they would have the resources and the manpower to overrun Cadia and cut a path of destruction all the way to Terra itself, where he could do what his predecessor could not and finally rid the galaxy of the corpse emperor, he smiled at the thought, showing rows of yellow, blood spattered, filed sharp teeth and laughed, his laughter making several of the nearby daemons back away in fear as their Warmaster passed them by on his way to the hanger.

------

Millions of Chaos warriors stood on the obsidian plains of the planet once known as Lwhekk, awaiting the arrival of their dark gods and the revealing of this new god, among the scores of Chaos generals and warlords were a number of Daemons, Greater Daemons, Daemon Princes and Princesses, the mortals around them giving them a wide birth lest they have their life energies removed from their bodies by their cursed weapons and implants. At the front of this large congregation was Abaddon the Despoiler, standing proudly and defiantly with his arms folded across his armoured chest, his own power-sword, Drauch'nyun, sheathed, its blade glowing like a signal beacon in the cloudy darkness of the tainted world.

The wait ended as the dark grey clouds overhead parted and several rays of red light flowed down, striking the obsidian rock of the planets surface, gusts of wind suddenly billowed across the ground, the swirling winds appearing as lines of multicoloured light, the shrill scream of the sudden storm was enough to destroy the mind of any weak minded Chaos servant, still Abbadon remained unmoving, his cloak, made out of the skin of those he had vanquished billowing in the wind, surrounding him like a shadowy shroud.

Five massive thrones suddenly rose from the rock, sucking the life of any warped creature or Chaos servant that was too close to the site, as the thrones took form four of the five Chaos gods appeared, Khorne was the first to appear, his blood covered form shimmering in the red light, next to arrive was Nurgle who appeared as a massive hideous creature, his entire body blistered and infected with every disease known in the universe, next was Tzeench, the Great Schemer, his body was encased in armour similar to that of a Chaos sorcerer but along his exposed skin was the contorted forms of thousands of faces, each one alive and screaming in agony, last to arrive was Slaanesh, she who thirsts, who appeared as an incredibly beautiful woman, dressed in armour that left very little to the imagination, her long flowing hair was the colour of Eldar blood and her skin was a smooth pink, the Chaos warriors averted their eyes when her gaze ran across them for they knew to gaze into those eyes was to lose their free will.

"Abaddon the Despoiler" Khorne bellowed, blood spitting out of his mouth and forming pools on the rock below "Step forward!"

Abaddon did so, his honour guard of Chaos Terminators stepped forward with him, the ground resounding with their united, steel booted step forward, without a moment or a hint of hesitation the Warmaster came down to a knee and hit his arm against his Chaos armoured chest in salute, he then bowed his head.

"Abaddon the Despoiler" Slaanesh said, her voice sending chills of lust up the Warmasters spine "You know why we have called you"

"Yes, you should know" Tzeench added, his entire body enveloped by red static electricity "We are questioning your competence in invading this new galaxy"

"We have given you thirteen chances Despoiler" Nurgle spat, bile and a myriad of poisons dripping down his toothless mouth and from the rotting opening in his throat "And thirteen times you have failed, miserably!"

"I assure you my lords" Abaddon said, his eyes averted from the gazes of the four gods, even then he felt their furious gazes upon him, charring his armour and blistering his skin "That given the chance this galaxy will fall before my armadas, the corpse emperor will follow"

_Abaddon the Despoiler_

The voice made every one of the millions of Chaos generals and daemons look around for the source, it was a few moments before they realized that nobody spoke, the voice echoed in their minds. A being appeared on the fifth throne, a pair of black feathered wings wrapped around his armoured form, which shinned with thousands of warped colours, his exposed skin was a dead grey, long black hair, dampened by the blood of a thousand souls flowed from his head down past his armoured shoulders, several of the generals looked into the shinning red eyes and fell to the ground, dying of pure fear and horror which stopped their hearts.

_I am Shingai, Chaos god of Fear, the fifth, and I question your ability Despoiler_

"My lord" Abaddon began, but was cut off as the newly born god brought his blood red gaze upon the Warmaster. He felt tendrils of shadow start to claw at his brain, pushing his mental defences back as if they were paper.

_Thirteen times you have tried Despoiler, the others may have infinite patience with you but I do not. One more chance, that's all you get, if you fail then your position as Warmaster will be called into question._

The Warmaster tried to muster a reply, but couldn't, those eyes were filed with such undying hatred and thirst for blood, those eyes screamed a psychic scream of a thousand horrified souls. The screams resounded through his brain until he called all of his will and psychic talent to shut them out, no mortal could take that stare and remain sane.

_Go, prepare your armadas, launch your invasion Despoiler, and remember my warning._

------

From the safety of the command deck of his star destroyer Admiral Vensis watched in fascination as the multicoloured gases of the eye of terror swirled and clouded together, mixing and reforming to create incredible and near supernatural patterns. His ships had exited hyperspace two hours ago, hovering just over ten thousand kilometres from the outer territories of this sector spanning gas cloud, his ship, specially modified with state of the art scanning equipment continued to scan and map out this strange phenomenon.

Its splendour and power strangely reminded him of a number of similar phenomenon's across the galaxy, including the grouped together black holes of the Maw Cluster, the recently discovered living planet of Zonama Sekot and the supposedly impossible number of life habitable planets of the Corellian system.

"Admiral we have ship signals from within the distortion" his aide reported from the crew pits of the bridge, a full level down.

"Impossible" Vensis said certainly "Recent results confirm that no sane creature could survive within this" he called up a ten meter long hologram of the area of warp-space in front of his fleet, he scanned the expanse and finally saw what his aides saw, the black, spine covered hull of a warship, partly hidden by the swirling warp clouds. He zoomed in on the vessel and saw that the rows of spines were actually alien like weapon emplacements.

"Unknown vessel" he heard his communicator called over the communications system "This is the Galactic Alliance Ship _Deliberator_, please respond, over"

There was no reply to the message, instead the warship fired up its engines, its nasals glowing with red light as it left the clouds of warp space, the vessel was large, at least 12km in length, bigger than anything that his fleet possessed, the scanners of his ship began to beep and scream as the unknown ship began to power up its weapons.

"Raise shields, power up weapons, full battle alert!"

As his fleet moved into a defensive formation another black ship appeared from the swirling clouds of the anomaly, then another, and another, until at least a dozen ships, ranging from 6km in length to 12km could be clearly seen heading towards his fleet of warships.

"Admiral they are in range"

"Fire"

As one the six capital-ships of his fleet fired in unison with their long range turbolaser batteries, the powerful beams of green light sliced across the dark fabric of space and smashed into the lead ship, the 12km long vessel they saw first, the beams cut into the front of the warship, charring and leaving deep craters in its thick armour, as the vessel got closer the smaller picket ships of the fleet added their own firepower to that of their much bigger cousins, the battleship exploded in several places in its bow, disintegrating its front. As the massive ship began to spiral out of control into the abyss of space the others opened fire with their own weapons, long thick beams of red energy cascaded out of their weapon emplacements, streaming back across the void and hitting the Alliance fleet head on, several picket ships disintegrated under the deadly barrage but the shields of the capital-ships held firm, if only just.

It was then that the _Deliberator _and her supporting capital-ships launched their first waves of starfighter squadrons, the clouds of X-wings, A-wings and TIE interceptors meet with their enemies equivalents between the two fleets, beginning incredible, fast paced dog-fights, the greater manoeuvrability and speed of the Alliance fighters giving them the advantage against their more powerful counterparts. A massive flash blinded him for a moment and the Admiral turned to see the frontal section of the _Galactic _Star Destroyer _Poisonous _explode under several beams of red energy, the front of the warship just started to break apart under the pressure, its shields shattering like a pane of glass.

Gritting his teeth the Arkanian had to grab onto a railing as a wave of explosions rocked his 3km long command ship, weakening the shields of his ship even more, small flashes of light signalled the destruction of his starfighter squadrons, their greater speed and manoeuvrability only lasting for so long under the far superior numbers of their rivals craft, larger flashes showed the destruction of several more escort vessels.

"All ships, turn around" he shouted into the comlink, one on one they could hold their ground but with more warships appearing from the swirls of multicoloured cloud they didn't stand a chance, they would just be overrun "Prepare for an emergency hyperspace jump to Bakura"

Another magnificent flash signalled the death of another of his capital ships, this one a _Liberty-class _Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, the _Corral Lady _was next to join its sister-ship in death, its entire portside smoking and cratered and its engine exploding in a blinding flash that took the back half of the ship with it.

Before the admiral could repeat his order to jump he saw several red flashes scattered across his bridge, he didn't see the daemon until it was charging him, he spun around, whipping out his blaster pistol from its holster, he didn't get a chance to squeeze off a shot as it jumped on top of him, using its long claws to tear into his throat, spattering his own blood across the floor.

**I may have called this chapter an epilogue but I am not going to turn it into a series of stories, I decided to keep it as one big story after asking a few readers what they think I should do, their answers were to keep It as a single story, so I am. Stay tuned for Episode II of the story, the Chaos Wars.**


	32. Episode II Prologue: The Chaos Wars

_**Warhammer**_

_**Star Wars**_

_**Episode II**_

**_Two Galaxies Saga_**

_**The Chaos Wars**_

_**Prologue**_

**_Dramatis Persona _**

Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster & Gods chosen of the Forces of Chaos – male human/Ascended Daemon

Alana Varne, Jedi Apprentice – female human

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, revived former Jedi Knight & Dark Lord of the Sith – male human

Emperor of Humanity, God-Emperor of the Imperium of Mankind - male ascended human

Gabriel Angelos, Brother-Captain of the _Blood Ravens _Space Marines Legion – male human

Gabriel Sabbath, Jedi Master – male human

Gilad Pallaeon, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defence Forces (GADF) – male human

Ishta Taldeer, Warlock of the Craftworld Ulthwe – female Eldar

Jacen Solo, Jedi Knight – male human

Joseph Halos, Grand Admiral of the Galactic Alliance Defence Forces (GADF) – male human

Leda Stormwind, Farseer of the Craftworld Siam-Hann – female Eldar

Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith - female human/cyborg

Leia Organa Solo, Jedi Knight and Diplomat to the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances - female human

Luke Skywalker, Grand Jedi Master of the Jedi Order – male human

Mara-Jade Skywalker, High Jedi Master – female human

Marcus Halcyon, Lord Admiral of the Imperium of Man – male human

Psicosis, Exarch of the Warp Spiders shrine, Craftworld Siam-Hann – male Eldar

Revan the Grey, former Dark Lord of the Sith, former Jedi Master, Sannin – male human

Robyn Vallace, Inquisitor & Jedi/Inquisition representative – female human

The Master, Immortal & First Jedi - male human

William Silvermaine, Lord Inquisitor & Galactic Alliance/Imperium of Man representative – male human

------

Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine stalked down the dank corridors of the Imperium battleship _Emperors Benevolence_, a scowl of annoyance on his withered old features, he had just spent a full four hours within the senate chambers, listening to the near deafening roar of a hundred thousand people shouting at once, it was worse than concentrated artillery fire.

They had taken the destruction of their reconnaissance fleet very seriously, in the six months since the Denon/Terran wormhole first opened he had seen the Alliance strengthen their military forces tenfold in preparation with this war against the traitorous inhabitants of this galaxies eye of terror, they had made an agreement with a xeno race known as the Kaminoans to help create a new clone army, warship production had increased tenfold across their territories and the funding for the Star Dreadnought and Defender projects had been quadrupled. Across the galaxy new military defence and training bases had been erected and hundreds of thousands of applicants had applied, they had learned their lessons from the Yuuzhan Vong wars, he realised, they wouldn't be caught off guard again.

However the planet that had seen the most change was Bakura, the only world that stood between the eye of terror and the rest of the known galaxy, it had been strengthened with a fleet a hundred times the size of what it once had, orbital defence platforms and space stations had been built around her and on the ground were scores of artillery, anti-air and anti-space batteries protecting the major cities. The Alliance had sent a defence force made up of a full legion of one thousand stormtroopers, a battalion of Alliance marines and a corps of combat walkers and hover tanks, they were to work alongside the planets standing army of over fifty thousand human and P'w'eck soldiers, Bakura had basically become this galaxies version of Cadia.

Convincing the Galactic Alliance to mobilize for war however seemed to be the easy part, the next part was trying to convince them to allow the Imperium to send a Crusade Fleet to join them, once the High Lords had learned of the birth of the second eye of terror they had demanded that they be allowed to enter the Alliance territories, the Alliance, while certain they could handle this by themselves eventually agreed to the Imperium' joining their defence, already he had heard that a massive crusade fleet of thousands of warships was being mobilized and preparing to be sent through the wormhole, he was expecting them within a month.

The most difficult part was yet to come, in order for the Alliance to survive this encounter they needed a defence against the daemonic entities of the warp, something that their armies and space forces would be hard pressed to defend against, if the Jedi were in greater numbers he considered that they could probably handle it but the fact was that they didn't have the numbers, the manpower or the experience to deal with daemons, they needed the Inquisition, the witch hunters, the grey knights and the daemon hunters. It took until know to have the Alliance agree to this and, strangely enough his biggest aide was the Jedi.

_**Flashback**_

"_You will excuse me if we do not accept the Inquisitions offer for help at face value" Chief of State Cal Omas stated dryly at the Lord Inquisitor._

"_Believe me sir if there was any other way I would tell you" Silvermaine replied "If the Jedi order had greater numbers then I would say that they could handle it with the proper training, but the fact is that they don't have the numbers, the manpower or the experience to deal with warp daemons"_

_The Lord Inquisitor took that moment to gaze over at Luke Skywalker, the Grand Jedi Master had been through a lot in the last few months, just getting over the grief and loss that surrounded the sudden disappearance of his wife, Inquisitor Vallace had told him what happened and he knew that the chances of her surviving the warp tear were slim, even if she did survive the emperor would only know where she would end up._

"_I agree" Luke said simply, taking the other members of the Alliance military council by surprise, even the Lord Inquisitor, he considered that the Jedi would be too proud to admit this, apparently he was wrong._

"_Master Skywalker?" General Antilles asked "What are you saying?"_

"_Its simple Wedge" Luke replied, a sad smile forming on his face, which seemed to have aged a lot over the last six months "There are only five hundred fully trained Jedi in the galaxy, nowhere near enough to contain armies of daemons, the Inquisition has the resources, the numbers and the experience, if the Inquisition and the Jedi work together to contain the energies of the eye of terror then our chances of winning this upcoming war greatly increase"_

_**End Flashback**_

Eventually the rest of the military council and the admiralty agreed, showing just how much influence that the Jedi had over the Alliance, the Lord Inquisitor looked at this with a mixture of awe and fear, in many ways the Jedi embodied what the Inquisition might have become, both orders were created on a similar basis, to serve and protect their respective empires. The only thing that he did not agree on was the fact that they allowed xenos into their ranks, in fact several members of the Jedi's ruling body, the Master's Council were xenos.

He sighed as he walked into his chambers and turned on the lights, nothing happened, growling he walked further into his quarters, about to throw his Inquisition robes onto a chair when he saw the hooded form of a figure standing at the viewscreen of his room, looking out at the hustle and bustle of the city-world below. The figure was dressed in the flowing brown robes of a Jedi, even with them he saw the slender form of a woman underneath; quietly he unbuttoned his holster and slid out his bolt pistol.

"Who are you?"

His voice stirred the robed figure, who turned to look at him, even with the robes he saw that the bottom half of her fairly human face was blue in colour, a xeno, he pointed his pistol at the creature only to have it telekinetically ripped from his grasp and fly into his guests outstretched hand, she scanned the weapon a moment before taking out the clip and dropping it to the floor. The Inquisitor fell back into an old fighting stance, preparing for any attack that the xeno would throw at him, she didn't move to attack.

"You are Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine, are you not?" she asked, her voice smooth and silky.

"What if I say I am not?"

"Then I will erase your memory of these events"

"And if I say I am?"

"I have a message for you from my master" she replied "Well, are you Silvermaine or aren't you?"

"I am"

"Good" she replied "My master wishes to meet with you, you are not to tell anyone, not the Alliance, the Imperium or the Jedi of this meeting, understood?"

"Why?"

"The time is not right for us to make our presence known" she replied, reaching into her robes and pulling out a data-pad, she tossed it over to him which he instinctively caught "You will go to the Hoth system in a weeks time, my master will be awaiting your arrival there, he has information and resources that will be helpful in this upcoming war, come only with your own ship, no other or the meeting will be cancelled…understood?" The Inquisitor nodded and turned on the data-pad, scrolls of information passed before his eyes and as he read it his eyes widened in surprise.

"This can't be possible" he muttered "Can it?"

The question remained unanswered, when he lifted his head to where the alien 'Jedi' once stood he found that she was no longer there, his genetically enhanced eyes picked up no signs of her presence; it appeared as if she simply vanished like a ghost. In that moment the lights of his chambers flickered back to life again, illuminating the once dark confines of his quarters.

------

The whistling wind and the rustling of foliage dominated the whirl of noises that resounded through the forest, full of ancient trees and plants from a home planet long forgotten and imprisoned within the eye of terror, the calls of animals and birds, long extinct anywhere else could be heard, mixing in with the rustles and the whistles. It was a forest of their home world, a forest which symbolised what the planet looked like before it fell to the birth of Slaanesh. Now this reminder of past beauty was buried deep within the protective hull of the planet sized Craftworld.

With delicate finesse the Eldar woman walked through the foliage of this beautiful and seemingly holy place, taking in its sights, sounds and smells, listening to the call of its wild animals, she used her psychic talent to shield herself from the dangers of the forest, so that they did not sense her presence, although reports of animal attacks were rare among her kin she still knew that they did happen on occasion. She braced herself and jumped high into the air, landing on the branch of her favourite tree and leaning against its thick old trunk, she then relaxed and closed her eyes, letting her troubles and worries melt away in the sweet embrace of the forest and the soft touch of the Infinity Circuit.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt something suddenly appear within the forest, completely out of place among the creatures and plant life, she got to her feet and in a blur of motion vanished from the tree, she moved with incredible finesse and skill, jumping from treetop to treetop towards this new presence, she was drawn to it more out of curiosity than anything else, she had never felt anything like this before in the Craftworld, it felt new and completely alien. Finally she came to a clearing and stopped on a treetop, perfectly balanced on its tip and looked down into the clearing below. There was a figure, lying on the soft ground of the clearing, whatever it was she could sense that it was alive and jumped down to the forest floor to investigate.

As she cautiously moved closer she began to make out details, it was almost completely covered by a brown robe with some kind of black leather suit worn underneath, she began to make out the colour of this strange beings hair which was a golden red and stretched down her back, the hair told her that this wasn't an Eldar, she heard a small noise, like a moan escape its lips, she bent over the fallen individual and using all of her might pushed it onto its back. Her eyes were closed and the woman felt that she was unconscious, she froze when she saw the creatures ears, fear began to well up within her, she jumped backward a safe distance as the creature moaned again.

_Mon-Kiegh _

The butterflies that were churning in her stomach rapidly turned into snakes, she was just made an Howling Banshee, just recently taking on the path of the warrior, she hadn't seen her first true action yet but knew exactly what she was expected to do, as she approached the Mon-Kiegh she silently unsheathed her elegant power-sword and raising it over her head thrust it down, aiming for her targets heart.

**Well is it good enough for a new act to the story? Send me your reviews and ideas on this subject, like how the Eldar would react to a Mon-Kiegh (That's us) appearing in their Craftworld?**


	33. Mon Kiegh

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Mon-Kiegh**_

Mara was floating in darkness, that was the best description she could think off, there was nothing but darkness around her, nothing below her, and nothing above. She wasn't even sure if her eyes were open or closed, she heard something, wisps of voices which seemed to echo in every direction, she couldn't pinpoint the source, there were so many voices that she couldn't separate them.

The darkness in front of her was suddenly illuminated by a blue hue, silencing the voices, slowly the form of a familiar person appeared before her. He was a teenager, his ice blue eyes and dark brown hair clearly visible in the hue that surrounded him, as Mara focused her gaze upon him he smiled.

"Anakin?" she asked, barely able to hear her own voice, she looked at her deceased nephew with joy, happy to see her former pupil again.

_Hello Aunt Mara, how have you been?_

"Oh the usual" Mara replied, trying to sound casual "Just floating around"

"So I see" Anakin replied.

"Am I dead Anakin?" Mara asked, dreading what the answer might be.

"No Aunt Mara" Anakin replied with a shake of his head "Your not dead, but you are in danger, you must wake up!"

"I don't think I can" Mara said.

"Aunt Mara" Anakin said firmly "Of everyone that I have ever met you were always one of the strongest, you never let anything defeat you, whether it be the emperor's ghost trying to force you to kill Uncle Luke or the spore virus the Yuuzhan Vong infected you with, you beat them all, so don't tell me that you can't beat this!"

"What happened to me" she asked suddenly, her voice shaking as she remembered the events that brought her here, the psychic shockwaves, the cold light that she was surrounded with, the Inquisitor diving towards her, then the roaring darkness.

"I promise you Aunt Mara" Anakin said as he came up to her and hugged her trembling form "That once you get to safety I will explain everything…now roll"

"What?"

"Roll!"

Mara's eyes shot open and in a completely instinctive move rolled, just missing the thin blade of a sword which embedded itself into the ground, she rolled onto her stomach and placing her hand palm down on the ground unleashed a force push, the small discharge in force energy propelled her into the air, she spun, swinging her foot to where her attackers head should be, she only hit air as the warrior ducked and cut upward with her elegant blade, she spun in midair until she faced the ground and reaching down with her hand unleashed another, more powerful force push which sent her flying high into the air, missing the sword by millimetres, she corkscrewed as gravity pulled her back down and landed in a crouch, several meters away from her assailant.

Her opponent could only look at her, her features completely hidden by a helmet, but Mara could still feel the surprise emanating from her. The helmet itself was crescent shaped and her armour was skin tight, revealing a slender figure underneath, far too slender to be human, in her gauntleted hands was an elegant sword of some kind and a deadly looking pistol holstered to her waist. Mara silently seethed when she noticed where she was aiming, her stomach, where her little three month old baby was resting, trying to kill her was one thing, she could live with that but no one, no one threatened her children.

"I don't know who you are" she began "And I really don't care, aim for my baby again and I will send you towards whatever you call god…clear!!!"

The alien warrior either didn't understand her or simply ignored her, she charged at her again, the blade held in her slender hands, spinning so fast that it seemed to be a disk of shinning silver, Mara force-jumped backwards, missing the blade by millimetres she somersaulted and landed back on her feet, she then sidestepped a downward slice from the sword and skidded backwards, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she force-pushed herself back.

"Face me Mon-Keigh" the musical voice of the alien called angrily "Unless your as cowardly as the rest of your race!"

Mara's emerald green eyes flashed angrily as the alien mocked her, she grasped the silver hilt of her lightsabre and unclipped it from her belt, she held the hilt in front of her body and the alien tilted her head to the side quizzically. After a moment the armoured sentient laughed lightly "What is that supposed to-"

Her words were silenced with the sudden sound of a _Snap-hiss_ and an indigo blade snapped into existence, Mara just stood there for a moment, her ignited weapon held firmly in front of her and her head tilted to the ground, a cruel smile spread across her lips, a smile she hadn't used in a long time. She listened to the steady hum of the weapon she held, revelled in the warmth it brought to her skin; many enemies had fallen to this weapon.

"If you wish to fight a Jedi knight" Mara said, her voice barely a whisper but just audible to her opponent "I'll give you more than you bargained for" she then relaxed her body and fell into her favourite combat stance, the Makashi form "Bring it on"

The alien complied and their weapons clashed, Mara disconnected her weapon and spun on her heel, her indigo blade spinning in her hand, she swung her weapon only to have it blocked by her opponent, they continued to strike at each other, power-sword and lightsabre blade clashing continually but Mara's experience and skill was showing, quickly gaining the advantage in the duel and putting her opponent on the defensive, she feigned a strike for her opponents left side only to deliver a lightning fast strike along her leg, leaving a long, shallow burn, the alien gasped in pain as Mara spun on her heel, taking the chance to strike at her sword arm, her blade grazed the young warriors arm, making her drop her power-sword.

Mara took that moment to end the duel, using a force-push to throw her opponent back and hitting of a tree trunk, she slumped to the ground, unconscious. Mara quickly deactivated her lightsabre, gathered the force around her and force-jumped into the trees, jumping from treetop to treetop away from the battle site.

------

The chamber was large and majestic, its design was circular with pillars keeping up the domed ceiling, the slightly tanned ceiling glowed with colourful sapphire veins, similar in shape to a spiders web, the walls and pillars were made out of tanned stone, its architecture was so beautiful, seemed so perfect that it was hard to believe that it could be made by a mortals hand, this architecture was a contribution by the ancient Bonesingers who designed and built this great structure since just before the fall.

Sitting in the middle of the vast chamber was the slender form of an Eldar, dressed in the flowing red and white robes of the Siam-Hann seer houses, her long black hair flowed down her shoulders and back, stretching past her floating, cross-legged form, she hovered five meters above the sapphire veined floor, dozens of multicoloured crystals and gems floating around her, slowly rotating around her slender body, her closed eyes fluttered and moved behind closed lids.

Images and pictures appeared in her mind, showing visions of the future, the past and the present, she saw the skirmishes and battles of the Craft-wars when the Siam-Hann clashed with the smaller, more secretive Craftworld of Kaelor almost two centuries ago, she saw the warriors of her home fight alongside the forces of Ulthwe and Biel-Tan against a mass Ork invasion of a string of Exodite worlds, sighing she pushed the visions of the past away from her mind, while she enjoyed watching her peoples past play out before her eyes this wasn't the reason why she was meditating, something was amiss, there was a new, alien presence within the Craftworld.

She summoned her psychic talent to scan the entire world sized vessel, searching for this new presence, the multicoloured stones and gems orbiting around her glowing and flashing from her mental exertions, wisps of mist appeared in her minds eye, slowly forming into the forest covered landscape in the bowls of the ancient ship, a being, dressed in flowing brown robes, underneath she could make out a black skin-tight leather suit, showing her curves with knee high black boots, the oversized hood was down over her shoulders showing long reddish golden hair, unblemished skin and sparkling emerald eyes, the only humans she ever saw before were the Space Marines and Imperial Guard of the Imperium, she had never seen a female of the naïve species before, quite a beautiful creature.

She foresaw two possible outcomes that this humans presence would bring to her home, one saw the female die, her form lying on the ground, blood gushing out of her slit throat, creating a pool of blood around her face and lifeless green eyes, she saw the Craftworld of Siam-Hann burn under the green fire of a thousand alien warships, the second outcome was far more favourable, she foresaw the woman surviving this encounter, she saw alliances made, agreements reached, she saw a battle in a far away star system where those same warships fought alongside her peoples own vessels, the choice was clear.

Her shinning ruby red eye fluttered open and in a single, elegant motion uncrossed her legs and let them touch the ground, the dozens of stones which rotated around her began to slowly descend onto the tanned rock floor, she remained standing there for a moment before turning towards the entrance to this holy place.

"Exarch Psicosis" she said softly to one of three beings leaning against the stone pillars to her right, the three beings were of the Warp Spiders, their red, white and black armour symbolising the ancient aspect temple they represented, a myriad of belts and satchels hung from the armour, showing an assortment of knives and pistols, one of the spiders crossed his arms across his chest and vanished in a puff of white static electricity, he reappeared before the seer, coming down to a knee and bowing deeply.

"Yes Farseer" he said reverently, his voice amplified by his helmet.

"There is a human in the Craftworld" she said, her voice soft and delicate, the Warp Spider Exarch tensed at the more tame name for that species "She resides in the great forests below, I wish you to find and bring her to me, alive and unharmed"

"How did a human get here?" he asked suddenly, his voice tense and barely controlled before he got a hold of his emotions and a wave of shame enveloped him "Forgive me for my outburst honoured Farseer, but shouldn't we eliminate her as a threat to the innocents of this Craftworld?"

"I foresee that such action could be suicidal for us Exarch Psicosis" the Farseer replied, she and the Exarch had been friends since they were childlings and although he had lost much of his memory when he became an Exarch of Khaine the bond between them still remained, a bond that she felt could have become more if he hadn't taken the path of the warrior, and she the seer "I sense that she means us no harm, she feels lost, confused, as if she didn't plan on coming here, her presence feels…different from any other human presence I have felt before"

"Honoured Farseer" the Exarch asked, bringing her out of her thoughts, she caught herself on and managed a smile, her eyes closing as she spoke.

"Go" she finally said "Find her and bring her to me, I sense that if you simply talk to her she will listen"

"A human who is prepared to listen" the Exarch said as if finding it hard to believe, he bowed deeper and vanished in a flash of white static electricity, his compatriots doing the same.

_That is a rare thing_ he finished telepathically.

------

"Aunt Mara?"

"Anakin"

"Quite a display, I think you rattled her cage a little" Anakin chided as his force presence reappeared. Mara stopped her stroll through the dense undergrowth of the forest to face her nephew, she had gained several kilometres between herself and her temporarily unmoveable foe.

"She's young by her peoples standards, yet in years I have a feeling she surpasses me" Mara explained before setting a glare upon her glowing nephew "Right, where am I, how did I get here and how in the force do I get back?"

"Um" Anakin stuttered "Aren't we full of questions, well as far as I know-"

"As far as you now" Mara repeated, a red eyebrow quirking upwards in disbelief "What do you mean as far as you now, you force spirits are supposed to have a greater understanding of the galaxy than us mere mortals, supreme beings and all that"

"Where did you hear that?" Anakin asked with an innocent look "I barely now what I had for breakfast this morning"

"Cut the joking about Solo" Mara said exasperated "I swear you get that from your father" it was then that she realised how much she missed her former pupil, her head fell "I missed these moments"

"Me too Aunt Mara" Anakin replied with a sad smile "Shall I begin again?"

Mara nodded and, leaning against the trunk of an ancient tree listened to the explanations given to her by her nephew "As far as I know you have been transported from one galaxy to another" he began, trying to ignore the shocked look from his aunt and failing miserably "You are on a planet sized ship known to its inhabitants as a Craftworld, you have been missing for roughly six months"

"Six months" Mara asked, trying desperately to mask the shock on her face "How is this possible?"

"We aren't sure ourselves, but those shockwaves that you felt must have torn reality open and you were one of the few unlucky people who got dragged in, they came from a space anomaly known as the Eye of Terror, a gateway if you will to another dimension known as the warp, there is a similar distortion in this galaxy, at the moment, the empires of the GA are preparing for all out war with the eyes inhabitants and the Imperium of Man is sending forces to assist" he paused to let the information sink in before continuing "This eyes power is scary, even those of the netherworld are worried about it, all that we sense from the eye is a darkness that even the Sith could not match"

"I must get back" Mara said, determined "They will need my help" _And I need to tell Luke that I am alive, he must be devastated, _the thought of the love of her life brought a deep longing to her heart, an ache to see him and her son again, to embrace them and tell them that she was alive.

"Aunt Mara I will try and help you anyway I can" Anakin said firmly, obviously picking up on her train of thought "But my help may be limited because of, you know" he stretched out his hands in the form of a crucifix and turned three hundred and sixty degrees.

"I know" Mara replied "Any help I can get ill take"

"Hey you have a supreme being with infinite knowledge by your side, you'll be fine" Anakin replied with a wink.

"I thought you said you couldn't even remember what you had for breakfast this morning" Mara chided.

"I don't" Anakin replied "But I know plenty of other stuff"

"I feel so relieved" Mara said sarcastically.

"Oh and one more thing" Anakin said "You will meet an Eldar warrior, he will introduce himself as Exarch Psicosis, I recommend that you trust him, at least for now"

------

With three near blinding flashes the Warp Spiders appeared in the clearing, scanning the surrounding area for any sign of the Mon-Kiegh, they fanned out and searched the foliage around the clearing, their power-blades and deathspinners ready for any surprise, it was then that they found the Howling Banshee, she lay unconscious against the trunk of a tree, painful looking burn marks were found on her left leg and right arm, but they didn't appear to be serious.

As the arachnids moved to try and awaken their fallen comrade Exarch Psicosis rose to scan the clearing once again, his hand grasping the engraved golden hilt of his power-sword, she was here, he could feel the Mon-Kiegh's alien presence, smell her scent, there were no tracks but he saw a freshly broken branch from a nearby tree and immediately knew which direction his quarry had gone, crossing his arms across his armoured chest he vanished in a bright white flash, leaving his brethren behind to care for the wounded Banshee

He reappeared several kilometres away, scanning the surrounding area once again for any sign of the Mon-Kiegh, after a moment of hesitation he crossed his arms across his chest and jumped once again, reappearing several more kilometres away, he landed gracefully on a sturdy branch and looked down to see the red haired Mon-Kiegh, she was walking carefully through the forest, making sure to leave nothing out of place, smiling he drew several throwing needles from one of his belts, placing them three each between his gloved fingers.

_Remember Exarch _the Farseers soft voice echoed through his mind _I wish her unharmed_

Hesitantly the Exarch put away his needles and in a graceful movement fell from his perch and landed in a crouch, accidentally snapping a few twigs as he landed, the snapping noises made the human suddenly jumped to her feet, a metallic cylinder shooting into her hand by some unseen force, could this human be a psyker…no, he didn't sense the familiar psychic presence as a Psyker, but there was definitely something.

The Mon-Kiegh spun to where he was, her intelligent emerald eyes scanning the foliage and finding him, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw his armoured form and slowly she began to back away, her weapon snapping to life, showing a beautiful violet blade which hummed and sparked with energy.

"Wait" he said, placing his gauntleted hands in plain view to show her he hadn't drawn any weapons "I am Exarch Psicosis of the Warp Spiders, I mean you no harm, the honourable Farseer wishes to meet with you"

For what seemed like an eternity the human female stood unmoving, her weapons hum the only thing that could be heard in the otherwise silent forest, finally she conceded, her impressive weapon deactivating and floating onto her belt under the flowing brown robes, she then raised her hands up in surrender. Behind his helmet the Exarch quirked an eyebrow in surprise, suspicious that this seemed so easy.

_Honoured Farseer_ he sent

_Yes Exarch Psicosis_

_The human has surrendered to me without a fight, I await your direction_

_Take her to the edge of the forest _she sent back to him, _there will be a Falcon Gravity Tank waiting for you, take her straight to the Warp Spiders shrine; I will be awaiting your arrival there._

_Why is this human so important milady_

…_I will explain later Exarch, our friend seems to have a slight understanding of our language_

The Exarch immediately spun around to face the human, her eyes were closed and her face was creased slightly in concentration, a slight blue aura was surrounding her, completely invisible to all but a Psyker, which the Exarch was, he reached out into the warp, only to find that she wasn't using it, in fact she was completely blind to the powers of the warp, he sensed something else, a warmer, more welcoming aura.

_Human _he said telepathically _can you understand me?_

The red haired human nodded her head in response to this, much to the surprise of the Exarch.

------

Mara sat in a metal chair, strapped in by a safety harness, she closed her eyes and felt the gentle humming of the alien vehicles gravity defying engines, they were quiet but just barely audible, there were very few vibrations, no bumps or swerves, in fact by all accounts the trip was fairly relaxing, fairly, but not quite, the two lithe forms of Eldar Guardians sat across from her, their hands gripping exotic, long barrelled rifles of some description. To her left and right sat the slightly bulkier forms of Warp Spiders, their own hands gripping larger, more deadly looking rifles, the Banshee sat further down, conscious and seething, finally standing beside the door which connected the cockpit to the main hold was the deadly form of Exarch Psicosis. At the moment Mara felt more like a deadly criminal than an accidental guest.

"We are almost there" she heard Psicosis say simply, his voice amplified by the speaker in his oval shaped helmet, his black eye visors completely unreadable "You will enter this holy place unarmed, your weapons will be temporarily taken from you, the Farseer is one of our most precious souls so if we feel she is threatened you will be incapacitated, do you understand?"

Mara simply nodded her head, to show that she was serious she unclipped her lightsabre and tossed it towards the Exarch, who instinctively caught it, the soldiers around her tensed their grips of their weapons but relaxed again when they saw her intensions. She felt the tank begin to decelerate and stop, it then slowly descended and came to a complete halt, she rose with her captors and was lead out of the vehicle, as she descended the landing ramp her eyes hurt from the sudden brightness of the outside, but adapted to the change.

She was standing in a courtyard made of well crafted stone, tanned in colour and sculptured to show ancient battles between what she guessed were the Warp Spiders against other beings lay beneath her feet, all around the courtyard were beautiful alien trees and thick brush, finally her eyes caught the attention of a structure, its walls made out of the same tanned stone with a domed roof, the walls were inscribed with ancient runes and hieroglyphs from an ancient language that she could never hope to understand, even from where she stood she could feel the psychic energies that seemed to resonate from the structure, giving a warmth to her heart and soul, dispelling all of her negative emotions.

As the Exarch led her towards the temple she saw the shadowy silhouettes of Warp Spiders, standing or crouching half concealed on the ledges and tops of the temple and the pillars surrounding her, there must have been twenty, perhaps thirty of them watching her with a mixture of emotions including curiosity, fear and disgust. She flinched under their gazes and suddenly wished that she hadn't given the Exarch her lightsabre. What unnerved her most was the lithe form of the Banshee who was stalking a few meters behind, her emotions a mixture of shame at herself and disgust towards her, Mara hid a smile, she had seriously bruised her ego more than anything else during their duel.

As Mara walked up the steps of the temple she noticed that her captors had remained behind, everyone but the Exarch had stopped at the base of the steps, as Mara came up past the last step she felt the energy, the pulse of this place, almost as if the temple was a living thing, the force flowed so easily here, she felt it, unobstructed like the calming stream of a small river. She instinctively came down to a knee, bowed her head and found herself quickly reciting the ancient Jedi code, she never considered herself religious, but the calmness of the force here brought a reverence and comfort that she never felt within the old Coruscanti temple or the new Ossus temple.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_There is no death, there is the Force._

She rose to her feet and ignoring the unbelieving stare from the Warp Spider walked through the temple entrance, breathing in the static air and eventually finding herself walking into a large chamber, its domed ceiling held up by thick, tanned stone pillars, the walls, floor and ceiling were also made of tanned stone with glowing sapphire lines stretching through them like the veins of a spiders web, adding an eerie supernatural light to this ancient and beautiful place.

Hovering cross legged in the centre of the chamber was the slender form of an Eldar woman, her long black hair stretching past her shoulders, past her robed body and ending in a black pool on the floor, her porcelain colored face was beautifully relaxed and calm, almost as if she were in a state of sleep, unsure of what to do Mara turned to the Exarch who stood behind her, he simply glanced back at her, his helmet showing no emotion.

Hesitantly Mara moved forward, feeling the force take on new heights of power, it was as if the forces flow was bending and reshaping itself around her, but of its own accord instead of being forced to do so, Mara stopped a meter away from the Farseers hovering form and waited, not wanting to interrupt her from her state of meditation, a train of thought hit Mara, this person was force-sensitive.

Gracefully the Eldar uncrossed her legs and let her bare feet settle on the smooth floor, she opened her eyelids and beautiful, sparkling ruby red orbs gazed intently at Mara, radiating purity and self confidence, she tilted her head quizzically, strands of long black hair falling across her porcelain face.

_Welcome Mara-Jade Skywalker of the Jedi order _she sent telepathically, her voice soft and comforting _you must have questions_

**I got goose-pimples while writing this****, it was one of the most enjoyable chapters that I ever wrote, probably because out of all of the factions in Warhammer the Eldar are by far my favorite, for helping me in this chapter I used a Warhammer book called Eldar Prophecy by C.S Goto, very interesting book. Anyway how did you like this chapter, did I get everything right?**


	34. Within the Shadows

_**Chapter 33**_

_**Within the Shadows**_

**Writers Note - I have to admit that Revanor has a point, I have been picturing it that the Jedi and the Alliance seem superior, I hope that I can fix that in later chapters because any way you look at it the Imperium probably has larger fleets, deadlier Psykers and so on.**

A tear opened up between realspace and warpspace and the 12km long battleship _Emperors Benevolence_ soared through the opening, its black hull covered with hundreds of deadly gun barrels and torpedo tubes, as it finished its journey between dimensions there was a flash of dark light as its Gellar fields deactivated, and a secondary blue flash as the warships newly installed Alliance defence shields took its place.

Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine stood on the bridge of the _Emperors Benevolence_. He had read up on the Hoth system and found that although it was a desolate ice planet, covered in snowfields and ice covered mountains, it had an interesting history, it was the site of a rebel base during the Galactic Civil War and was also the site of a massive battle between the Galactic Empire and the heavily entrenched forces of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Where the Imperial forces under Darth Vader soundly defeated and routed the Rebel Alliances ground army.

"Full scans of the entire area" he ordered briskly "Are there any ships in the region?"

There were a few moments of silence as the bridges serfs set to work, their hands dancing along the keypads of their control consoles, initiating powerful scans that even the Alliance vessels could not compete with. He waited patiently, his fingers drumming on the tough wood of his staff.

"Milord there are three vessels in the system" one of the serfs reported "Approximately five hundred kilometres ahead, one _Executer-class _Dreadnought and two escorts, looks like Clone Wars era _Venator-class _Star Destroyers"

A holographic image appeared on the command deck, showing the impressive silhouette of the star dreadnought, its two sleek escorts looking like flies in comparison, small dancing lights showed small groups of starfighters patrolling around them.

"This can't be right" he heard another serf mumble.

"What is it?" Silvermaine asked as he walked towards the serf's station.

"Milord, according to the ship information that the Alliance gave us the dreadnought is known as the _Executer_" the serf replied "The _Executer _was destroyed over thirty years ago during the battle of Endor"

"Then that can't be the same vessel" Silvermaine replied simply "It's just not possible"

The small cluster of warships were within visual range know and as the Lord Inquisitor looked at them closely he saw that the colour scheme for the star dreadnought was the same as the old Imperial design of light and dark grey during the Galactic Civil War, by first glance it looked just like the ship from the history vids, the two smaller _Venators _had a different colour scheme of gold, red and white, the same as the Old Republics warships had.

"We are being hailed milord" a communications serf said from his station.

"Put it through" Silvermaine replied.

A holographic image of a being appeared, dressed in flowing brown robes, the hood was down around her slender shoulders showing a xeno woman with cerulean blue skin and two long head tails, the Lord Inquisitor heard a few sounds of disgust from around the bridge as a few serfs looked up, the alien however didn't seem to care, her dark brown eyes were fixed on the Inquisitor.

"Your ship will dock with the dreadnought milord" she stated calmly.

------

Meanwhile back at Denon the first Inquisition black-ships were exiting through the wormhole, carrying entire companies of Inquisitors, battlesisters, storm troopers, daemon hunters and Grey Knights, a score of Adeptus Astartes vessels followed them ranging in size from small strike cruisers to one enormous 18km long battlebarge, their hulls painted in the colours and covered with the emblems of the chapters known as the Blood Ravens and the Ultramarines.

From the deck of the _Leviathan _Supreme Commander Pallaeon, Grand Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and recently made Grand Admiral Halos looked out at the recently arrived taskforce with awe, they had never seen Adeptus Astartes ships before and they had to admit, they were impressive, the strike cruisers were said to be able to go toe to toe with vessels twice their size and the battlebarge was said to have the firepower of three _Retribution-class _Battleships.

The stories of the Space Marines were equally impressive and terrifying, the elites of the Imperium, beings dressed in intimidating power armor and armed with some of the deadliest weapons that the Imperium had at their disposal, they were relieved however that they sent the Blood Ravens and the Ultramarines, they were both considered more open minded than many of their brethren chapters.

On a lighter note the Imperium and the Alliance had gotten on pretty well over the last few weeks with the Imperium already finished building an embassy on the planets surface, the few companies of Imperial Guard who were stationed on the Alliances capital were luckily quite well behaved, there were a few incidents of fighting between them and alien civilians but they were broken up quickly by the Commissars and Alliance Commanders before anyone got hurt.

The Jedi order and the Inquisition were also behaving themselves with the Inquisitors and sanctioned Psykers teaching the Jedi the techniques that they would need to fight off the daemons of the warp, including strengthening their bodies and minds against the corrupting whispers that the Eye of Terror would be unleashing once the war began, the Inquisition were more than happy with their counterparts quick progress with several Jedi masters including Luke Skywalker mastering the techniques in near record time.

"Sir we are being hailed by the Battlebarge _Emperors Watch_" he heard one of the officers below say.

"Put it through" The Supreme Commander ordered.

The image of a large, intimidating man appeared before them, dressed in the red power-armor of the blood ravens his head was weathered and rugged with clipped white hair and piercing silver eyes. Latched to his waist was a deadly looking bolt pistol engraved with red markings and the majestic well designed hilt of a power-sword, the top of the hilt forming a raven with its wings stretched, its holy blade encased in a well made sheath.

"Greetings in the name of the Emperor" he bellowed, his right hand forming the sign of an aquilla across the breast plate "I am Brother-Captain Gabriel Angelos"

"Greetings Brother-Captain" Joseph said as he and his fellows executed crisp salutes "It has been a long time"

"Yes it has Admiral Halos" Gabriel replied, a wisp of a smile touching his lips "It would appear that the shoe is on the other foot, now I am a visitor in your territories"

"Welcome to our turf Brother-Captain" Joseph replied with a smile of his own "And its Grand Admiral now"

"Ah you got a promotion" Gabriel replied "Congratulations"

"Thank you"

"I heard of what you did at Helios and Scorpios Grand Admiral" the space marine said, his voice suddenly sounding serious "And you have my and the men under my commands respect, you and your fleet proved themselves more than worthy in the eyes of the Blood Ravens"

"Thank you Brother-Captain" Halos replied with a nod before gesturing to the people beside them "This is Supreme Commander Gilad Pallaeon of the GACF and Grand Jedi Master Luke Skywalker" Luke bowed deeply before the Brother-Captain while the Supreme Commander executed a crisp salute.

"Supreme Commander" Gabriel greeted "I hope you have more officers like Halos in your Admiralty, your going to need the best you have if we are going to defeat the forces of Chaos, and Grand Jedi Master, it is an honor"

"Thank you" Luke replied while Gilad simply nodded.

"I take it Brother-Captain that your men would like to get to Bakura with all haste?" the Supreme Commander asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Yes we do" Angelos replied "My men's numbers have just been replenished with raw recruits that need to be properly tested"

"Well Brother-Captain you and your men have full military access to the Alliances territories" the Supreme Commander explained "And you will have a full Alliance battle group under the Grand Admiral accompanying your men to Bakura"

"Thank you Supreme Commander" Gabriel replied, the Space Marines head bowed and his right hand tracing another sign of an aquilla along his chest "We will be ready when you are, may the emperor guide us" at that his image flickered and vanished, leaving the breathtaking view of the Inquisition/Astartes taskforce filling up the dreadnoughts frontal viewscreens.

------

The young Jedi stood in a defensive position, her lightsabre ignited in her hands, she was breathing heavily and her body was covered in a fresh layer of sweat, she had been dueling this Psyker for well over an hour now and still couldn't find a way through his defenses, every time she got close he would unleash a powerful blast of warp energy, making her dodge and retreat further back.

She broke into a run yet again, her lightsabres emerald blade spinning in her hands, immediately the Psyker began mumbling incantations and prayers, his mouth moving wordlessly and with a great thrust he telekinetically wrenched several trees from their places and threw them at her, the Jedi was prepared this time and gathering the force around her jumped onto one of the trees, running along it entire diameter and jumping onto another, then another, finally she force-jumped high into the air, her lightsabre held over her head, ready for a downward slice.

Only she never reached him as the Psyker bent his knees, his hands held at his sides and shaped in the forms of claws, warp energy encompassed his hands and in a quick move he fired a volley of warp fire at her, his motions looking like he was performing palm strikes, the Jedi was forced to break off the attack, using a well timed force-push to throw her clear of the eerie red fireballs. She corkscrewed in midair and landed in a crouch, only to be forced to move again as another volley of warp fire cascaded towards her, charring the ground.

Watching on the sidelines of the duel was the smug form of Inquisitor Cyprus, one of the first Inquisitors to be allowed into the Alliances territories, he had been tasked with overseeing the training of these Jedi by the Master Inquisitor himself, while he had his reserves about teaching the aliens he quickly found that the humans of this order had an all for one and one for all stance, considering that an insult to their brethren was like spitting on the Jedi order as a whole, so reluctantly he taught the alien knights as well.

This fight between the Jedi and the Psyker was a simple sparring match, testing these force-sensitive's abilities against a real Psyker and he had to admit the girl was doing well, she was strong willed and stubborn, but also smart, learning from her past mistakes and not making them twice, she hadn't even touched the Psyker yet though and she was tiring, even the force it seemed could only strengthen them for so long.

The Psyker fired another wave of warp fire, finally catching the tired girl head on in the chest and throwing her clear across the sparring ground, landing roughly on the ground and skidding backwards, kicking up dirt. There were several gasps of horror and worry as the few other Jedi who were watching the match saw what happened, even Cyprus had a worried expression, he hoped that Psyker Carthas hadn't overdone it, his worry turned out to be unfounded as he saw the girl stir, he hit her with a stunning strike, nothing more.

He and the Jedi around him began moving towards the girl, some quicker than others, only to find that Carthas had beaten them to it, he leaned over her and offering his hand pulled her back to her feet, using his own body as a pillar to keep her steady.

"An impressive display of ability Tahiri Veila" Cyprus said as he approached "Your rank of Jedi Knight is well deserved"

She could barely speak, almost desperately taking in gulps of air, her chest rising and falling heavily, so instead the blond haired girl managed a tired smile and a nod before wincing, he put a hand on her shoulder "An excellent display" he said before turning to the others, looking down at the datapad he held in his hands "Right, who wishes to fight Psyker Carthas next?"

As the young generation of knights gathered together to see who would face the Psyker next Cyprus went over the data he had gathered from the battles so far, it was mostly guesswork but he considered that many of these Jedi were Epsilon level or lower with at small percentage of them strong enough to become Delta's, he wasn't very impressed with the overall talent, then again these Jedi hadn't unleashed anything devastating, relying instead on more subtle techniques like using their force to rejuvenate and strengthen their bodies, making them stronger, faster, more unpredictable, the only real show of psychic power was mind reading, mind suggestion, slight usage of wind and earth elements, mostly for self-defense.

He continued to read down the scrolls of information that flashed across the datapads screen, showing information on every Jedi in the order, this information included the persons picture, their race, rank, gender, age, blood type, force strength and a chart showing their physical and mental strengths and weaknesses, fairly basic data, but more than enough for him to begin his studies. He typed down Tahiri's Psyker level into the personal information, Delta, before searching for information on the new Jedi who stepped forward.

------

Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine scowled at the back of the xeno Jedi as she lead him through the densely packed corridors of the Star Dreadnought, he an his guards had been forced to surrender their weapons for this meeting which left him a little uneasy, but he didn't really mind, the battlesisters behind him were experts in hand to hand and finally the Gamma level Psyker he had brought along could more than deal with this mysterious being who wished to meet them. He was almost certain that this woman was the same alien who had stowed aboard his ship and delivered the message, disarming him with ease in the process; he gritted his teeth at the memory and silently cursed himself.

He had mentally contacted Psyker Gervais and asked him what level this little xeno was at, she was hiding her ability quite well but the Psyker guessed that she may be Epsilon level, powerful, but Gervais could crush her with a thought, his mind danced along the idea of giving him the order but he knew that even Gervais couldn't deal with a 12km long Dreadnought full of angry Jedi and Emperor knew what else.

His mind was brought out of his train of thought as the xeno stopped in front of a large double door, its transparisteel surface inscribed with some strange language, he knew for certain that it wasn't a Jedi dialect, or any of the other force orders he had meet over the last month, it could have belonged to the _Jensaarai_, an allied order of the Jedi who were known to practice both the light and dark aspects of the force, but they didn't have the resources for such a vessel, that only left…no, they were extinct.

With a creek the doors slowly began to open, revealing the dark confines of what looked like a library, its computer terminals and storage units flaring with dim blue light, as they walked into the chamber he saw Psyker Gervais visibly tense, there were Jedi here, dozens stood at either side of them as they walked by, their cloaks and robes either brown, grey or pure black in color, their features all hidden within the shadows of their hoods, some he felt as Jedi but others had a darkness about them that made him cringe, nowhere near as powerful as a Chaos taint but still powerful.

_Milord_

_What is it?_

_I sense a presence up ahead_

_How powerful?_

_I do not know sire, he hides his presence well, I am just getting slight stirrings_

_Could be nothing but a warp tear_

_There are more than one, I sense another five_

_Can you handle them?_

_Most likely _

_Then stop sounding so worried, what level are these?_

_Those around us? most are either Epsilon or Delta level sire_

_Good_

Eventually they came to another set of double doors, also inscribed with the same runes as the first, but the xeno didn't stand and wait this time, she walked to the side of the great doors, to some kind of wall terminal, she raised her cerulean hands into the shapes of claws and unleashed a charge or force lightning, the Lord Inquisitor could only stare in wonder, he had never seen the force used in such a way before.

_Milord her level is rising _Gervais sent to him, his telepathic voice tense

_What is she know?_

_She just reached high Delta level_

_Interesting, she hid her presence well_

Finally the force lightning encompassed the control pad and snaked up the veins engraved into the doors, flowing across the surface like rushing blood, he heard the xeno growl in concentration as the strain began to build, she was using as much force energy as her body could safely withstand, perhaps more. Eventually he heard the clicking of a dozen locks and the doors began to creek open, she let her arms drop to her sides, the force lightning dispersing, she moved through the doors, the Imperium delegation following into a dark chamber, there were no dim lights this time, aside from the viewport at the end it was completely dark.

At the end of the round chamber was the large viewport, showing a breathtaking view of space, the Inquisitor gritted his teeth, more ships had arrived, dozens of capital ships including _Providence _Carriers, _Venator _Star Destroyers and _Mediator _Star Cruisers, all old vessels from the Clone Wars but more than enough to destroy his battleship and the flotilla he had placed outside of the system. What gave him more cause for concern were the three massive silhouettes of Star Dreadnoughts, slightly smaller than an _Executer_, but there was no mistaking the superlasers built into their spines, _Eclipse-class _Star Dreadnoughts.

In front of the viewport was the long backs of a throne, completely black compared to the stars and running lights outside, at either side of it was the dark forms of four figures, dressed in either black or brown robes, finally the chair began to rotate around to face them and for the first time he heard the sounds of mechanical breathing, the throne finally finished its spin and the Lord Inquisitor could only stare at the black armored figure sitting in it…no, it wasn't possible!

"I see you got my message" the mechanical voice of the figure bellowed throughout the chamber, making the Lord Inquisitor and his guards involuntarily flinch "It would appear that we have much to discuss Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine"

"Who are you?" he heard Psyker Gervais say, his voice and body tense.

"I have many names, the Jedi knew me as their chosen, the Sith knew me as their Sith'ari, I was also known as the Son of the Suns, the Hero with no Fear and finally Darth Vader" he reached up with a black gauntleted hand and grabbing hold of his mask pulled it off, there was a hiss and the Imperium delegates saw a man with ice blue eyes and slightly tanned skin.

Suddenly he undid his psychic cloak and a rush of power washed over them, making Silvermaine wince and Gervais take an involuntary step back, he was no ordinary Jedi, his level was far higher than that, the very chamber, which was made of the galaxies strongest metals began to shake, it was only then that Silvermaine knew what he was, he was the first Alpha level Psyker they had met in this galaxy, he smiled "I am Anakin Skywalker, the Son of the Suns"


	35. The World Eaters

_**Chapter 34**_

_**The Word Bearers**_

_Blood, she saw blood, an entire valley soaked in it, bodies littering the ground, thousands of dead Imperial Guard and Cultists, their weapons strewn all over the soil, the wrecked forms of Lemon Russ and Predator tanks, the broken barrel of a Basilisk artillery tank, and in the centre, marching with their blood covered banners held high were columns of cultists and traitor guard, lead by the terrifying forms of Chaos Space Marines, the colours of their armour and the forms of Berserkers alongside them marking them as a Legion of Khorne._

_The ground shook with the united thudding of their boots, the very ground quaked as a testament to their warped power, they continued their march, singing eerie, terrifying praises of blood and sacrifice to their Chaos god, the massive forms of predator tanks and stolen Imperial vehicles were among them, their armoured hulls covered with dripping layers of blood, and burned bodies._

_There was a flash and the scene changed_

_They were within a city, battling Imperial Guard and PDF units, killing anything in their path, whether they were soldiers of innocent civilians, a mother running with her child in her arms, gunned down by bolter shells from a laughing marine, cultists laughing and shouting praises to their dark gods, cutting down children with their blades and lasguns, a wounded Imperial Guardsmen, lying immobile on the ground, shrapnel imbedded in his back, stabbed by a power-sword._

_No building was spared from the destruction, their superstructures pocketed and marked with artillery and orbital fire, some had been turned into piles of rubble, those inside trapped and suffocating under the ruins. Standing on the top of the largest building in the city was the armoured forms of two Chaos warriors, dressed in battle armour with a myriad of ruinous scrolls attached, both holding the twisted forms of Chaos tainted staffs, power-swords sheathed, bolters in their free hands, their eye visors glowing red with the powers of Chaos._

_They both looked up to the sky, where she was floating and raising their staffs unleashed powerful blasts of warp energy, the ruinous powers encompassed her, her very nerves burning like she was within lava, she screamed in agony and then there was darkness._

_Alana_

_Alana!!!_

Her eyes fluttered open to see the worried expressions of her master, Gabriel and the Healer, both had been meditating with her in one of the many barren chambers of the _Reverent Blade_, they had leaned much from Revan and his Jedi over the last year, their strengths tripling and their knowledge of force-techniques getting wider, he had helped her in being able to control the visions but every now and then something so serious always gets through, like this one.

"Are you alright" Sasha asked.

"Yes Master Healer I am fine" Alana replied as she put a hand to her pounding forehead "I had another vision, this one felt so real, I must tell Lord Revan at once"

Gabriel nodded and helped her to her feet, using himself as a pillar to keep her steady, she always got so weakened when she had one of her visions, even with the rejuvenation techniques that they learned, he lifted his apprentice up in his arms and headed towards the bridge, where Revan always seemed to be. He felt the worried force touches of the Jedi nearby, they had made so many friends here, he sent them back that they were fine and continued on.

------

"Without a doubt" Revan said as he placed his palm against Alana's forehead, gaining her vision in his mind "It is definitely the army of those Sorcerer brothers, I haven't seen them in a hundred years, not since we routed them at Rasengan, they must have returned to the eye and raised another army"

"Who are they" Alana asked, still feeling the after effects of the psychic shock.

"They are known as the Blood Brothers, a duo of sorcerers who have made their name as raiders and fast attackers" he explained "They belong to the traitor legion known as the Word Bearers, one of Khorne's blood legions but they are also sorcerers of the Warmaster, I heard rumours that they fought at the 13th crusade, they may have been on one of the fleets that slipped through the Cadian gate" He began sifting through the vision more thoroughly, this wasn't a battle of the past, after a few moments he found a name to the planet that they were fighting on.

"They're going to strike Kinon" Revan said calmly before rising and walking towards the holo-table, he called up a map of the sector and touched one of the stars, it zoomed into a five planet system, orbiting around a red giant "And that's where we must go, admiral Saul, gather the fleet, prepare the space marines and shadow guard, we'll most likely be going in fighting"

"Shouldn't this be left to the Imperial navy" Mynn asked.

"This is an isolated world that the Imperium doesn't know about" Revan explained "A simple mistake on the charts excluded it and the colonists were forgotten like dozens of other worlds, we stumbled upon them when we were hunting a Dark Eldar force, only to find that they had landed on the planet on a raid, I took a dozen Jedi and a company of space marines down to repel them, afterwards we made a defensive alliance with them, promising them that we would act if they were threatened"

"Such agreements can be troublesome" Admiral Saul added "But they are one of our main supply planets, their small shipyards are more than enough to supply and repair our fleets, plus they are also a serious pool of force-sensitive talent, I guess it can't be helped"

Just then another vision assaulted Alana's senses, she saw the wrecked landscape of a city, smoke and fire filed the red sky, half of the buildings nothing more than mounds of rubble while the other half were just barely standing, explosions, screams, lasfire, bolter rounds and chants that filled the air for miles, eerie, terrifying.

_Blood for the blood God!_

_Blood for the blood God!_

_Blood…blood…blood…blood!!!_

_A city in ruins, dismembered bodies of Imperial Guard and civilians everywhere, strewn across the cities tattered streets, in the buildings, on the rooftops, blood flowing like the streams of a river, survivors running in different directions, being chased by the bloodied forms of Chaos marines, their weapons held high and their mechanical voice boxes bellowing those same chants._

_A young woman, her robes torn, her lightsabre thrown well away from her reach, at the mercy of a Chaos Berserker, Alana recognised her immediately as a younger version of Sonya, Revan's daughter, her eyes were wide and she was paralyzed with fear, suddenly a blast of force lightning flashed over her head, striking the marine head on, making him stumble back but remaining on his feet._

_Revan appeared on the scene, his armoured robes chipped and torn, his face mask broken around his right eye, Alana gasped, the eye was a sickly yellow and the lightning that encompassed his body radiated sorrow and hatred, even the berserker seemed to back off in his presence, he raised his lightsabre, which was the colour of blood over his head and howled an anguished cry. At first Alana didn't know why he was in such agony until she looked behind her, the body of another Jedi, his form cut in two at the abdomen, his lifeless eyes starring up at the blood coloured sky, who he was flashed in her mind, his son._

_There was a flash and Revan stood on a mound of bodies, cultists and marines, his mask was off showing eyes of the sickest yellow, his incisor teeth seemed to be twice their original length, his skin was a dead grey from using the dark side of the force and the storm that seemed to be brewing overhead was being conjured by his awesome force ability, rain smashed into the ground, lightning flashed, thunder bellowed._

_Alana turned around to see the forms of the two same Sorcerers she saw in her last vision, their armour chipped and scarred, their blood red gazes narrowing into slits, the warp was flowing out of them at a dangerous rate, adding further strength to the storm that was appearing overhead, the unnatural fusing of the warp and the force creating tornados and hurricanes, the ground began to quake, the wind picked up. _

_It was the dark sides of both meeting and fighting for supremacy_

_It was Sith versus Chaos in all its terrible glory_

Alana was suddenly snapped out of her vision, breathing heavily, the images she had just seen burned into her brain, it was then that she looked straight up at Revan, he was standing next to the holo-table, but his eyes were on her.

"If Alana's vision is accurate" he said "Gather three space marine companies and a division of Shadow Guard, as many Jedi knights and masters as you can without weakening the psychic defences of the fleet, it is more than likely those two have weaker sorcerers with them"

------

It was two days later before the fleet arrived at Kinon which was a green world of two savannah covered continents, separated by a massive blue sea, the wildlife here was mostly predatory mammals and reptiles with the seas full of fish and squid, the human population here was ten million and they were all mostly situated on the northern continent, in floating cities armed with old anti-air and lance batteries, its armoured forces were a battalion of CDF and a full regiment of Imperial Guard for each city, in orbit was the shipyards that Revan was talking about, several dozen skeletal forms of dry docks and space stations, a small fleet of destroyer and frigate sized vessels surrounding them along with the impressive forms of three _Mars _battlecruisers.

"It appears that we got here first" Revan said before a sudden light in the distance caught his attention, there was a dozen red flashes as warp tears opened up, spewing out dozens of warships from small gunships and frigates to massive cruisers, all centred around the unmistakeable form of a _Despoiler-class _Battleship.

"Radar control" Sonya called from her place beside her father "How many are there?"

"Milady according to these readings there are over twenty small escorts ranging from _Infidel _and _Idolator-classes_, six _Retaliator-class _Cruisers, two _Repulse-class _Grand Cruisers and a _Despoiler-class _battleship, they are launching fighters"

"It appears that those two managed to get a hold of a more powerful force than last time" Revan mused as his lightsabre hilt spun in his black gloved hand "This is going to be interesting"

"Lord Revan" the mechanical voice of Brother-Captain Shrull, one of the leaders of the Space Marine legion _Black Fists, _who was Revan's own legion said, his black and silver armour was a true sight to behold "The 1st, 5th and 10th companies are ready to go, we are at your command"

Revan turned to the Brother-Captain, also dressed for combat with his black battle robes and face mask on, a lightsabre hilt and dual blaster pistols fastened to his belt, Sonya was also dressed for battle, wearing a black, body hugging armoured suit and midnight blue cloak, her lightsabre and hold out blaster also fastened, held against her slender frame by a strap was the unmistakable bulky design of a bolter, which looked out of place on her "Excellent Brother-Captain" Revan said before he turned to his daughter "Sonya, don't tell me your Battlesister company has been beaten on time again?"

"Well get them next time" Sonya replied with a wink as she put long needles into her flowing black hair, effectively tying it up into a bun "The Jedi squadrons are also ready, Gabriel and Ishta are mobilising the Alliances Stormtrooper legions, looks like we'll get a chance to see these new breeds in action"

Revan smiled behind his face mask before turning to the Admiral "You now what to do" he said "Order all ships to open fire, launch the starfighter squadrons and prepare for a land battle"

Immediately the combined Imperium/Jedi fleet opened fire upon the recently arrived Chaos force, firing lance and plasma fire from their warships and orbital defence platforms, destroying two _Infidel _escorts and pocketing one of the _Retaliators_ before the Chaos forces could return fire, in the space surrounding the fleets starfighters from both sides engaged each other, creating a magnificent display of flashing lasfire and plumes of explosions, the _Reverent Blade _stood out from the rest, roaring forward towards the _Despoiler _battleship and engaging it in a long range battle, lance fire and plasma rained down on their void shields, creating flashes of colour.

From the moment that the battle began Revan sensed that something was wrong, it wasn't like those sorcerers to just send such a large fleet into an area where they would be so easily seen, his first thought was that maybe they were slipping but he quickly dispelled it.

"Admiral send the _Freedom _and the _Independence _to the right flank" he said calmly, indicating the two _Lunar-class _Cruisers to the _Blades _portside "A few moments later the manoeuvre was complete, the two cruisers had completed their move, taking a small squadron of Imperium _Cobras _with them and had officially encased the Chaos flotilla in a pincer movement.

"It's not them"

"Milord?"

"They wouldn't have fallen for such a simple move" Revan explained "And they wouldn't have just charged their forces against a more superior defence either" there was a flash of light as combined fire penetrated the hull of another _Retaliator_,spewing out bodies, equipment and smoke "Which means that they are not within that fleet"

"Then where are they?"

"…There!!!"

There was a warp tear on the other side of the planet and five _Slaughter-class _Cruisers appeared, their massive bays unleashing a swarm of Thunderhawk transports towards the planets northern continent, Revan gritted his teeth, now they had him in a pincer movement, the old strategist smiled viciously, his Mandalorian blood pumping, an old fashioned game of manoeuvre and outmanoeuvre aye. Those two hadn't changed, they were still thinking on his level.

"Order taskforce _Firestorm _to make its presence known" Revan ordered crisply "Captain Mynn is going to thoroughly enjoy this"

From the planetary shadow came the flashes of lance and turbolaser fire, catching several of the Thunderhawks head on and turning them into burning balls of fire and debris, from the shadows came the wedge shaped design of the _Imperial _star destroyer _Firestorm_, accompanied by a force of four _Avenger _Gunboat cruisers.

Flank and outflank.

Manoeuvre and outmanoeuvre.

The _Reverent Blade _was now in a firm dance of death with its Chaos counterpart, both alongside each other and unleashing powerful blasts of energy that were as beautiful as they were deadly, the superstructure of the battleship shook from the lance batteries but the shields and hull armour stood firm, all around them the starfighter battle had degenerated into skirmishes and one-on-one dogfights, blooms and flashes of lasfire dead giveaways on where the heaviest battles were taking place.

Revan turned to look back at the planet, and the battle taking place in its orbit, the Thunderhawks had broken through the atmosphere and were heading towards their assigned Landing Zone, Revan had sent the warning ahead, he knew that the Imperial Guard and PDF were mobilizing but he wasn't sure if it would be enough, the Chaos battleship, which according to its data was called the _Blood Dragon _was purposefully dragging his battleship and its compliment of space marines and battlesisters away from the planet.

------

Reports from scouts confirmed his suspicions, the forces of chaos had landed a sizeable army of ten thousand cultists, traitor guard and chaos marines just outside of the plateau, along with them were dozens of tainted predator tanks, traitor dreadnoughts, basilisk artillery tanks and a number of smaller artillery pieces, their intensions were clear, it was an army built for a mass siege.

Commander Bass watched from the viewing platform on the control spire that dominated the centre of the capital, he watched as units of Imperial Guard and PDF ascended the cities protecting walls with lasguns, stubbers, mortars, rocket launchers, sniper rifles and a number of other weapons, the artillery pieces were placed in the cities centre, primed and ready to open fire on his orders, in key positions around the city were the distinct forms of AA guns and surface to air missile sites, also ready to fire upon any enemy aircraft that strayed to near. Further in were yet more units of Imperial Guard and PDF with vehicles including chimera fire tanks, lemon russ battle tanks and sentinel walkers, all ready and waiting.

"Commander" he heard his bodyguard, a Kasrkin say "All is in readiness, let them come, we will crush them"

The commander nodded before bringing his gaze to the sky, where he began to hear the faint roar of aerial fighters and bombers and make out slight black dots, their first wave of attacks would be from the air, a good tactic, but it would be costly with the anti-air weapons that were set in the city.

"So it begins" he murmured to himself "Emperor be with us"

"All guns, open fire"

------

From the ridge if his vantage point he looked out over the scene of landing transports and debarking troops, the useless cultists had already fanned out, moving through the savannah towards the city like an unruly mob, behind them were the far more professional traitor guard, marching as one in columns with their lasguns shouldered, to the sides were predator tanks and chimeras, all lead by a squad of Chaos marines and berserkers, that was just the first wave, to test the defensive capabilities of the main city of Kinon.

He turned his head to the sky just as several old aerofighters flew by, armed with old machine guns and rockets, their roar was nearly deafening. Behind them were the slower, bulkier forms of old bombers, armed with several hundred kilos of bombs each, their mission was simply to strafe and bomb the main city, weakening its defences for their ground forces, once Kinon city fell the other, smaller ones would follow suit.

He turned to see the unmistakeable forms of Basilisk artillery tanks, captured during their last raid on an Imperial planet, they moved through the landing zone, other artillery pieces were being carried by cultists and heretics, there was a ridge just outside of the city that would be the perfect striking point.

"Something troubles you my brother" Sorcerer Kahn said as he approached, his twisted staff held firmly in his gloved hands.

"Not at all" Kane replied as he turned to look at their advancing army once again "Surprise is all, I did not foresee Revan and his Jedi to show"

"Perhaps it is fate" his brother replied "Vengeance on him for routing our army a century ago, if I find him I will let him dye slowly, making him watch as I kill those precious to him before his eyes"

"You remember the last time that happened" Kane retorted "He unleashed power that matched our own combined, and knowing his kind he has only gotten stronger as time went by…his powers have probably doubled"

"As have ours" Kahn replied venomously "Let him come, I will crush his skull under my staff and burn him to ashes with the powers of the dark gods"

"Your overconfidence will eventually be your undoing my brother" Kane said, smiling murderously behind his helmet.

"And your cautiousness is yours" Kahn retorted coldly "But I do not have the patience nor the time to match wit with you"

"Yes" Kane agreed "The berserkers and raptors are getting impatient, they call for their hands and blades to be covered in blood, the blood of the corpse emperors followers"

"Let's not keep them waiting then" Kahn replied, he tapped his staff against the ground and started chanting ancient incantations, his twin brother following suit, the sky began to darken with storm clouds as black as night, rain began to cascade down, lightning as red as blood flashed, thunder bellowed. The very ground began to reshape itself to their will, turning from sweeping plains and hills to completely flat ground, the grass and plant life withered and dyed, turning into ash, leaving a charred landscape behind, as the brothers continued their chants, hitting their staffs of the dead soil red veins began to snake out in every direction.

The roars of hundreds of jet-packs signalled the debarking and sudden leaving of the Chaos raptors, at least a hundred and twenty took to the skies, soaring like deadly birds of prey towards a small set of mountains next the city, armed with chain-swords, bolt pistols and power-swords the Blood Brothers planned to use them as shock troops to knock out key anti-air and artillery installations. The chaotic roars of blood curdling laughter that was mixed in with the jet-packs signalled the arrival of the Word Bearer berserkers, dozens of the terrifying warriors began their march towards the outer territories, armed with power-axes and bolt pistols, once one of these crazed marines got a taste of blood they went into a near out of control frenzy, killing anything in site whether they be friend or foe.

With a terrifying smile the brothers turned around, jumped onto the platform of their modified predator tank and watched their army march into the plateau, their fleet should keep Revan busy so that just left the planets PDF and Imperial Guards to defend the population, it would be a magnificent slaughter.

_Blood for the blood god _Kane began reciting in his mind as the engine of their tank roared to life.


	36. Blood & Sorcery: Part I

_**Chapter 35**_

_**Blood & Sorcery**_

_**Part I**_

Night fell upon Kinon city as the first wave of chaos bombers attacked, coming in low and unleashing their payload upon the usually built up residential areas, as the first explosions flashed Commander Bass was suddenly thankful that he had evacuated all of the civilians into bunkers deep below the cityscape, the landscape suddenly came alive with flashes of anti-air fire, illuminating the otherwise pitch black atmosphere with the flashes of cannon, flak and tracer rounds.

At the walls of the city the companies of Imperial Guard saw the small flickering lights of thousands of torches come alive, temporarily illuminating the outer areas as the Chaos army made their presence known, after a moment the air was filled with terrifying, eerie chants for death and blood, amplified a hundredfold by the lesser Chaos sorcerers scattered across the army.

The Imperial Guardsmen sent communications to the artillery batteries in the centre of the city, giving them targeting and position data, within moments the night air came alive with another near deafening set of noises, the sounds of artillery fire, the shells flew overhead with a piercing scream, leaving trails of smoke in their wake and collided with the ground with a near deafening and blinding set of explosions. As the flashes temporarily illuminated the army the Imperial Guards armed with long range lasguns and sniper rifles began to open fire, peppering dozens of charging cultists and traitor guards with their barrage.

From the observation deck of the central spire commander Bass watched the entire engagement, silently congratulating his boys on their reactions, firing without hesitation, the traitors didn't deserve such mercy, betraying the emperor was a near unforgivable act, as the old doctrine said a heretic may be forgiven but a traitor will never be forgiven, they were dogs who deserved to be slaughtered.

A direct hit from one of the cities flak guns collided with a chaos bomber, clipping its wing and sending it spiralling down, billowing smoke and breaking to pieces, it collided with an old office building, crashing straight through and exploding, once again Bass congratulated himself on evacuating the civilians.

Another series of flashes and bangs signalled another bombardment from their artillery batteries, the shells ripping through the air and colliding with the outside ground in a series of flashes and explosions, tearing dozens of cultists and mutants apart. Bass smiled but his smile didn't last long when he saw a series of flashes from the far mountain, there was a piercing series of roars and several near blinding explosions within the city, he spun to see several city blocks go up in flames, the enemy had artillery.

------

The defences surrounding the capital city of Kinon were formidable there was no denying that, the walls that surrounded the city were thick adimantium steel, similar for the type used for the armoured hulls of warships, at the top were walkways were lines of Imperial Guard stood, their weapons ready, in spires and turrets were heavy bolter turrets, stubber and mortar emplacements along with the odd anti-air or artillery battery, any army that laid siege to this place was definitely going to take heavy losses, even with artillery and air support.

"What do you see…sorcerer" the blood curdling voice of raptor champion Valrush asked "Are their defences as formidable as we have been told?"

"Worse" Talge replied as his chaos imbued eyes scanned the defences "The defences are deadly, thousands of Imperial Guard man the walls. The interior defences are strategically placed with a myriad of anti-air batteries including AA, flak and launchers, they are scattered with a squad of Imperial Guard at each site, their artillery is all in one place, but very heavily guarded, I'd say about a full company of Imperial Guards with a few commissars and delta level Psykers"

Talge was a sorcerer, one of several dozen apprentices that the Blood Brothers had brought with them, he was considered quite powerful, being Beta level, most of his comrades were either Gamma or above, he turned to look at the Raptor Champion only to narrow his eyes behind his helmet, he had no respect for the World Eaters because they were a legion of Khorne, and Khorne hated sorcerers.

"Raah, when do we attack!!!" one of the Raptors spat from behind.

"Patience" Talge bite back "To go in without knowing an enemy's strength is to throw yourself unto his sword!" he turned back to the city, his eye visors shinning an eerie red from barely contained warp energy "There are sentries on the walls not under attack" Talge informed "This commander is smart…he leaves no blind spots" his eyes darkened as he closed himself off from the warp "To go too high would put you into the anti-air barrages…but to go to low will risk being detected by the sentries" he turned to the Chaos champion "What will you do…servant of Khorne?"

"Fool" Valrush murmured with a terrifyingly insane smile on his scarred face "We are not here to sneak in. We are here to create panic…Chaos raptors. Disperse!"

As one their jump-packs came to life, as one they hovered into the air and as one they scattered into groups and flew through the darkness towards the walls, their laughter and war-cries becoming lost in the maelstrom of weapons fire. As he watched their forms vanish into the darkness Talge brought himself up from his crouch and began mumbling incantations, there was a blur and he vanished, no servant of the blood god was going to outclass him.

------

The battle in space had completely degenerated, the Chaos fleet had broken from their lines and came straight at his forces in a desperate attempt to break out of the blockade of warships, in orbit Mynn's strike force of Imperium cruisers, old _Ravagers _and a single _Imperial _star destroyer had completely isolated the second Chaos force from the main fleet and were chasing them to open space. Surrounding the cruisers were swarms of starfighters, each engaged in their own dances of death, blooms of explosions and flashes of lasers signalled where these battles were taking place, which were everywhere.

"This Chaos commander is indeed an idiot" Revan murmured as a _Retaliator _cruiser crumbled under the fire of his battleship, they had since been separated from their duel with the _Blood Dragon _because of the heavy fighting, the battleship in question was on the other side of the battlefield, its hull charred and cratered, its void shields almost shattered, but no where near out of the fight.

"Forget about him for now" Revan ordered "Turn this ship towards the planets orbit and launch the ground forces, order Mynn's taskforce to do the same once they've dealt with those annoying flies" he then turned to his daughter who was looking at him expectedly "Go and prepare your forces, I will join you shortly"

She nodded before spinning and striding out of the bridge, her two battle-sister bodyguards following her soundlessly, their bolters held firmly against their chests. His daughter was very proud of her legion of battle-sisters, whom she had trained and prepared herself.

As the _Reverent Blade _turned towards the planet he saw that the star destroyer had already launched its ground troops and walkers towards the surface, he smiled, those AT-AT and artillery walkers would be a big help in the battle to come, with the guidance of two young Jedi and an Eldar warlock they should be able to hold steady until his forces arrived.

------

Commissar Quill watched from his vantage point on one of the wall turrets as the Chaos cultists and mutants charged the western gates of the city, and were mercilessly gunned down as a result. He snarled at the traitorous swine and their feeble attempts, it was almost as if they had wanted to die, they continued to run, shouting their blasphemous praises and war-cries, holding blades, guns and explosive devices in their hands.

He drew his bolt pistol and squeezed of several shots at a few of the cultists who reached the walls, burning holes in their heads and chests from the powerful pistol that he held in his hands. As it clicked empty he slammed in a new cartridge and began raining down bolter shells upon them again, smiling fanatically as he did so. Already the ground outside of the walls was littered with hundreds of either dead or dying bodies, smouldering craters and burning wrecks of small vehicles, his men were doing their jobs well.

The sudden squealing sounds of tank tracks brought his attention to the distance, where a row of Chaos predator tanks, coloured in their traitor legion colours were moving forward, firing their main guns upon the walls as they went. He smiled to himself, these tanks were formidable but the wall was made of the strongest and thickest metals in the galaxy, it would take nothing short of a Baneblade's main gun to break through it.

On one of the predators he spotted the unmistakeable shape of a platform over the main turret and standing on that platform was the forms of Chaos sorcerers, two of them all wearing their scroll covered armour and the forms of twisted staffs in their gauntleted hands, he felt an eerie force flowing out through them, making his entire body feel cold.

"Artillery" he called into his communications device "Aim all guns to the following coordinates…thirty nine degrees west, forty degrees north, fire everything you can muster"

A few moments later he heard the unmistakeable booms of artillery weapons and several shells flew well over his head, creating jets of smoke in their wake, they flew across the killing fields towards their intended target. Only they never got there, the shells smashed into what looked like a psychic wall, their explosions causing purplish ripples like stones being thrown into a pond. Quill gritted his teeth, whoever these sorcerers were they weren't your average Psykers, they were on a completely different level from that.

"Commissar they have a Baneblade!!!"

"What!?"

He then looked through his binoculars and searched the line of tanks, finding the unmistakeable form of a Baneblade Super Tank in its centre, it was massive, dwarfing the Chaos Predators on either side, its hull which was once camouflaged green was now coloured in shades of red and gold, its main gun could fire a powerful shell capable of levelling the strongest made building and its side turrets could blast through almost anything.

"How in the name of the Emperor did they get their hands on one of those?" Quill growled, fear rising in his throat, that things main gun could demolish a section of the wall "Aim for that Baneblade, order the artillery to target it and unleash everything they possibly can, I don't care if their gun barrels begin to glow!"

"Sir we can't reach the artillery installations!"

"What!!!"

------

The scene was one of spilt blood and insane laughter as the Chaos Raptors descended upon the heavily defended artillery position, their bolt pistols firing and their chain-swords revving, several of them dropped melta bombs upon the nearest batteries, partially destroying them and making them useless. The company of Imperial Guard opened fire upon them but only managed to get a few due to concentrated fire. Once they hit the ground the blood began to flow, they swung their chain-swords like madmen, tearing those close to them to pieces, blood flew in all directions, spattering onto the ground and anyone nearby.

Sergeant Strider drew his power-sword and used it to parry a chain-sword, the chainsaw was on and sparks flew as it tried to dig into his weapons blade, the Chaos Raptor attacking him was unrecognisable due to his nightmarish helmet but his laughter, magnified by his helmets voice box showed just how insane he really was.

The sergeant grabbed his laspistol from its holster and sprayed the marine with red lasfire, but the marines armour was too thick and the bolts simply ricocheted, the traitorous marine took his chance and using his superior strength batted the power-sword away, he then swung his weapon and tore through Striders abdomen, cutting him in two and ending his life. The raptor laughed maniacally and spun on his heel, swinging his chain-sword in a sweeping arc and cut through another Imperial Guardsmen.

"Blood, blood, blood" Valrush screeched as he decapitated a Commissar "Spill more blood!!!"

There was a flash of red warp energy and Sorcerer Talge appeared on the scene, hovering in the air above the battle, his seemingly bottomless eye visors scanning the battle taking place below him, he growled under his breath, the Khorne followers were so entrenched in their need to kill that they had almost completely forgotten about the artillery batteries.

"Pitiful fools" Talge murmured before raising his aging staff towards the nearest artillery battery "Warp technique…Multiple warp fire" he murmured, his staff lit up with dark light and unleashed several powerful blasts of warp fire, they dispersed, each one aimed at one of the artillery weapons, once they hit they exploded, kicking up clouds of smoke and fire, once it cleared the bodies of Imperials and Chaos troopers lay within five meters of each blast, the batteries themselves were now twisted, cratered wrecks, never capable of firing another shot ever again.

The roar of a jump-pack signalled the arrival of Raptor Champion Valrush, his eyes burning with anger and blood lust "Sorcerer" he spat "How dare you interrupt us!"

"The objective was to destroy the artillery" Talge replied dryly "That has just been completed"

"We do not take orders from the likes of you sorcerer" Valrush shouted "Your kind is an inconvenience"

"My patience with you is nearing its end Valrush" Talge replied, his voice still dry but the threat was clear "I lead, you follow…if you don't like that then I will send you back to the eye in pieces"

"Sounds like a threat" Valrush said, his anger reaching boiling point, his chain-sword revving.

"Take it any way you like Raptor" the sorcerer replied, his form suddenly glowing with warp energy "I really couldn't care less"

The roar of an alien machine took their attention to the skies where they could just barely make out the silhouettes of fighters, they had strange solar panel wings and their cockpits were shaped like a ball. As they came closer their roar was almost deafening, they strafed the centre with what looked like green lasfire, peppering several Chaos Raptors and killing them, the sorcerer fired several fireballs at them but it was no good, they were already out of range.

"What in the name of Khorne was that" Valrush shouted angrily.

"I have never seen them before" Talge replied, his voice eerily calm.

He heard several quieter engines and turned to see a small group of what looked like gunships descend upon a block of flats, several white armoured troopers jumped from the ships onto the rooftop, their white suits shaped to look like skeletons, they held the intimidating forms of large weapons in their hands, similar to heavy bolters and missile launchers.

"ARC troopers…deploy!"

------

Lord Sorcerer Kahn watched as the Baneblade fired its main cannon, the shell roared across the battlefield and exploded against the side of the wall, the pure power making the targeted section crack and crumble, a second shell from the super tank finished the job, turning the targeted section into a mound of rubble. With a roar of delight the cultists and mutants flowed into the breach, dozens being taken down by surviving Imperial Guards on either side of the destroyed wall, but there were just far too many, the city was breached.

With a wave of his staff the line of tanks began to move forward, following the lead of the much larger Baneblade, who was still firing powerful shells from its main gun, destroying other sections of the so called unbreakable wall, those blasts were being joined by its support tanks, further weakening the already weakened defences, soon the battle will spill out into the city itself.

"Brother" Lord Sorcerer Kane said, his head turning to gaze into the black sky "Do you hear it, something is coming"

Kahn glanced at his brother, in terms of pure power he was stronger but his brothers senses where far more acute to the surrounding areas, when he felt something then it was there. He strained his ears and finally heard it, a whistling roar of alien engines, he looked up to the sky, his chaos imbued eyes seeing it as clear as day, dozens of ball shaped fighters, with solar panel wings were dropping out of the cloud cover with similar, yet far bulkier bombers following them.

"I see them brother" Kahn replied "But I have never seen them before"

"New Imperium fighters?"

"Perhaps…but I doubt it"

The fighters came down low and sprayed a column of traitor guard with green laser fire, tearing through their lines and killing dozens, the bombers followed suit at a higher level, dropping bright blue orbs of energy upon the targeted columns and the vehicles trying to break away, there was several near blinding flashes and once the smoke cleared half of the column had been blown away, the twisted wrecks of their escort vehicles lying beside them. He looked up to the sky to see yet more of the strange fighters and bombers break through the black clouds, diving towards the remnants of their army that hadn't entered the city yet, anti-air vehicles reacted and opened fire, spraying lasfire and shells into the sky.

He saw several aerofighters break from their strafing runs on the city and turn towards the newcomers, engaging them in skirmishes and dogfights, machine gun and laserfire streaked and flashed overhead, they no longer had control of the skies. As his tank entered the city the Lord Sorcerer knew that reinforcements had landed and were on their way, he saw several more unrecognisable craft lift off and fly out of the city, whoever this faction was they were about to make themselves known, and the sorcerer never liked surprises.

**Well what can I say, I wanted to try my hand out on a large scale land battle before I started the Chaos Wars and this seemed like the best way to do it, after all I have been neglecting the Revan side of the story for a while. What do you think? Am I any good at this sort of thing?**


	37. Blood & Sorcery: Part II

_**Chapter 36**_

_**Blood & Sorcery**_

_**Part II**_

Gabriel took a deep breath and threw himself out of his gunship, somersaulting in midair and sending a force-push down towards the ground, buffeting his fall and landing fairly comfortably in a crouch. He ignited his lightsabre and decapitated a charging Cultist before spinning, slicing through another two who tried to surround him.

By now the gunship had descended further to the ground, jump cables fell from the side door and a group of six ARC troopers, kitted out in their white armour and armed with high powered blaster rifles slid down beside him, they aimed their weapons and fired, killing another five cultists with well timed, precise shots. Overhead the LAAT gunship went into a steep climb, passing by the buildings and heading into the upper atmosphere where more troops were waiting to be ferried down to the fight.

Immediately they took cover within a deep crater and gazed out over the wrecked city street, hover-cars were either overturned or burning, the concrete ground was cratered and cracked, the buildings to either side of them were in ruins and bodies lay everywhere. They had come up right behind a squad of traitor guard who were taking cover behind an overturned hover-car, pouring lasfire upon a small group of Imperial Guardsmen. The ARC troopers dispatched them quickly.

The planning for this was fairly straightforward, the elite ARC troopers accompanied by units of Dark Troopers and YVH Combat Droids would descend upon the contested city in shock teams, causing as much havoc and destruction to the Chaos army as possible, or team up with the cities defenders and hold out until the main force arrived.

Gabriel took a deep breath and broke out into a run towards the small group of Imperial Guards, his ARC troopers following behind, he ran and dived into the crater they were hiding in and looked up to see the barrels of lasguns held in front of his face. The sounds of disturbed gravel signalled the arrival of his troops who aimed their weapons at the Guardsmen. Their leader, a commissar looked at them suspiciously, his bolt pistol aimed for Gabriel.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly "Speak quickly!"

------

The ARC troopers had well entrenched themselves on the rooftops, firing continuous streams of blaster fire from their blast cannons and high powered blasters upon the charging Chaos Raptors who had activated their jump-packs and took to the skies. They fell upon their new prey with their chain-swords revving and their bolt pistols firing but these white armoured soldiers proved themselves to be better trained than the PDF or Imperial Guards that they had fought so far.

Their timing and firing concentration was flawless and executed with incredible finesse, taking down three Raptors before they landed on the rooftop and engaged them in close range combat. They began to swing their chain-swords tearing four of the ARC troopers apart, the survivors jumped back and either unsheathed thin bladed swords of drew deadly looking pistols from their holsters.

A hail of crimson bolts rained down upon the Chaos Raptors from the few soldiers who kept their big weapons, killing another two of them but the Raptors were relentless, swinging their swords like madmen, the ARC troopers were elite warriors and didn't back down or freeze, jumping away from the revving chainsaw blades and firing with their blasters.

From a rooftop on the other side of the city centre Sorcerer Talge watched the skirmish taking place on the rooftops, mentally sizing up these new combatants. They weren't amateurs, they dodged and fought well but he saw a weakness, they excelled at long and mid range combat and although they knew enough to keep up with the crazed Raptors they weren't close range fighters.

He smiled behind his helmet when he felt a new presence appear, one that had the familiar alien-like feel of a Force Psyker. There weren't many sorcerers who could say that they meet one but Talge was one of the few who did, in fact the lightsabre hilt attached to his belt was a sign that he had meet and killed a Force Psyker. He remembered the time and smiled at the memory, what a magnificent battle it was.

"It has been a while since I last saw one of your kind" Talge said as he turned, the battle taking place across from him no longer holding on to his interests "I sense that you are powerful young one"

The girl appeared from the shadows and to the sorcerer's surprise she was quite young, just a teenager. Her hair was a long silky blonde, her eyes were a piercing green and the loose brown Jedi robes she wore hid her figure well but Talge saw the skin tight light armour underneath, she wore several utility belts, two loose ones around her waist, covered with an assortment of knives, a bolt pistol and the two hilts of lightsabres.

"Hmm" she muttered uncaringly, her eyes scanning her opponent "I haven't fought a Chaos Sorcerer yet…don't be too disappointing, okay"

The sorcerer gritted his teeth at the girl's smug tone, she was either cocky or confident, something that he knew was separated by a very fine line. His annoyance was replaced by amusement and he threw his head back and laughed "Amusing little one" he said "But I doubt you have the power to best me"

"We will see" she replied.

He raised his twisted staff and unleashed several balls of warp fire towards her, laughing maniacally while doing so. The girl simply looked at the balls and vanished into a blur of motion to the surprise of the sorcerer. She reappeared above him, her two lightsabres in her hands and ignited, glowing crimson and gold, she swung her gold bladed lightsabre only to find it blocked by the staff. The sorcerer starred at her, his helmets eye visors glowing red.

"Buzz off" he said mockingly before using his strength to bat her lightsabre away, making her ascend a little from the impact and with a swing of his staff unleashed a blade shaped blast of warp energy, the little girl smiled and vanished in a blur once again, reappearing behind him and executed several deadly strikes from her two lightsabres, each of which Talge keenly intercepted with his staff, but the speed of her strikes and the quickness of her advance made him take steps backward.

Growling angrily he swung his staff again, releasing another wave of warp energy, the girl quickly withdrew from her assault, vanishing once again and reappearing several meters away from him, falling into the combat stance known as the Jar'Kai, the stance used by force Psykers who wielded two lightsabres. She looked at him and giggled innocently.

"Your pretty good for one so young" Talge admitted "In fact your speed is incredible, moving so fast that you become a blur and vanish. If one didn't know any better they would think that you teleported"

"My master always told me that I would become a powerful Jedi one day" she replied with an equally innocent smile, almost as if she didn't understand the gravity of the situation taking place around her "In fact he thinks that I have already surpassed him"

"Then why do you continue to train under a master who is weaker than you" Talge replied "Your powers would bring you great standing among the forces of Chaos. You could gain unimaginable power and have control of an entire world with armies of millions at your command, to do what you wish on a whim"

The girl actually seemed to think on it but smiled mischievously "I think I'll pass" she replied "From what I have seen following Chaos is murder on your skin, plus I'd go crazy if I had to look at so many ugly faces all day"

"I see" Talge replied, his form suddenly encompassed by red warp energy "Then I am afraid that you have to die"

He swung his staff again, creating another wave of warp energy, she simply starred at it and vanished again, she reappeared above him, her lightsabres deactivated and raising her hands unleashed a powerful blast of wind, the air swirled into a funnel, like she was the base for a tornado. He began spinning his staff in his hands so fast that it appeared to be a disk, the funnel of wind crashed into it but didn't break through, with a flick of his wrists he dispersed it and raising his free hand fired several blasts of warp fire in quick succession, the girl quickly reactivated her lightsabres and deflected the red fireballs in midair before landing in a crouch.

------

The battle had definitely spilled out into the city, on every outer street the horde of cultists and mutants, backed by traitor guard and chaos marines fought with the Imperial Guard companies and PDF units in an incredible sight of lasfire, bolter shells and spilled blood. The defenders weren't backing down, making the invaders fight for every square inch of the city, in every rooftop there was a sniper, every street lined by Imperial Guards, backed by Chimeras, Sentinels and Lemon Russ Battle Tanks.

Outside of the city those Chaos soldiers left behind were being mercilessly strafed and bombed by Ties and Y-wings, the basilisk artillery tanks were now smouldering wrecks on the mountain side, victims of a successful bombing run. The battle for the skies was now in full swing with dozens of Chaos aerofighters dancing with X-wings and A-wings, but even from the ground Lord Sorcerer Kane could plainly see that they no longer had control over the skies, these new fighters were superior in speed and manoeuvrability.

But it didn't matter much now, the bulk of their forces were now within the city and luckily enough the Baneblade and most of the Predator tanks had entered the city by the time the main force of enemy fighters arrived, the constricting streets meant that they couldn't be strafed by these fighters, he guessed they wouldn't bomb this place either, after all they had friendly units down here. Sadly though these narrow streets were a double-edged sword, their vehicles didn't have much room to manoeuvre and they were sitting ducks for surviving anti-tank squads hidden in the abandoned buildings.

He looked back at the walls of the city, flashes of lasfire on the walkways showed the fire fights between his traitor guards and the remaining Imperial Guard who were making his forces pay for every meter of the wall they took but the berserkers and chaos marines accompanying them were definitely the deciding factor.

------

On the walls Commissar Quill ran his power-sword through the stomach of a traitor guard and pulled it out in time to deflect another traitor trying to run him through with the bayonet of his lasgun, he swung his blade, cutting of the vile creatures head off of his shoulders. The walkways were fairly narrow, only being about two meters wide so both his Imperial Guard and the traitors were bottlenecked with only the front lines being able to get off any clear shots.

He hit a mutant in the face with the butt of his power-sword, sending it falling over the edge of the wall to his death. He then spun on his heel, swinging his power-sword in a sweeping arc only to have it blocked by the power-axe of a Chaos berserker, he laughed maniacally, his armour covered in blood and stinking of death and decay.

The berserker swung his power-axe, hoping to cut the commissars head clean off, Quill was faster however and ducking the decapitating blow ran his power-sword into the armoured stomach of the fanatical traitor marine, his blade shattered through the marines armoured stomach and exited his back but instead of dying the marine grabbed the commissar by his collar and threw him against the wall, he then grabbed the hilt of the sword and snapped it from the blade before charging the commissar again.

Quill had taken the time to draw his bolt pistol and level it for the marines head, even chaos armour couldn't take a few bolter rounds, he squeezed the trigger and unleashed a concentrated volley of bolter shells which crashed through the armoured helmet and left a gapping hole at the side of his head, spilling blood, bone and brain fragments the berserker fell to the ground, dead.

The commissar didn't have time to rejoice as he raised his bolt pistol and put several rounds into two approaching traitor guard, he continued to fire until the pistol clicked empty, he then released the empty cartridge and slammed his last one into the bolt pistol before levelling it at the approaching chaos soldiers again, the Imperial Guards at his back continued to pour lasfire into the mutants and traitors ranks, dropping dozens, they were taking losses too though.

He heard the sounds of insane laughter and saw Chaos berserkers wadding through the horde, throwing anyone in their way over the side of the walls. When they finally got through they charged his men and started to hack them apart with their power-axes. They managed to get a few but in the end the armour of the berserkers and their fanatical ideal to spill blood for their dark god was the deciding factor.

Quill continued to fire his bolt pistol until it clicked empty and then he was mercilessly cut down by a chaos berserker. Even with his death the Imperial Guards behind him continued to fight, pouring lasfire, grenades and plasma into the traitor's ranks but they were being slowly pushed back by the berserkers and recently arriving chaos marines, who were now pouring bolter rounds into their flanks, at this rate the walls would fall.

------

Since he had meet the commissar and the remnants of his commanding squad he had managed to enlist their help, they began moving through the city streets, from cover to cover, gunning down everything bearing a chaos mark. As they continued on they had managed to hook up with another two units of ARC troopers plus another three squads of Imperial Guard. Right now however they were moving through the back alleys of the city, keeping clear of large enemy troop concentrations, their destination was the artillery field in the city centre, which had strangely gone silent.

"Commissar Vail" Gabriel asked as the column of white armoured ARC troopers and camouflaged green Guardsmen continued to run down the alleyway "How long has it been since the last barrage"

"About thirty minutes ago Jedi master" Vail replied, it was strangely easy to enlist this mans help. Once he explained he was a Jedi knight, or force Psyker as his kind was known here it was surprisingly simple, apparently Revan and his forces was well known and respected here "We got a couple of garbled reports after but they were badly jammed"

Suddenly a volley of lasfire erupted from the rooftops above, peppering the front group of Imperial Guards and killing four. The rest acted swiftly, diving for cover in the alley and returning fire with their blasters and lasguns. Vail grabbed his bolt pistol and started to squeeze off shots while Gabriel used the force to telekinetically lift and throw pieces of rubble and debris.

The snipers on the roof were well hidden however and two ARC troopers were next to fall under the sniper fire, he felt someone grab his shoulder and turned to see the white helmet of Commander Gin, the leading officer of the ARC troopers, what he wanted to ask was clear and Gabriel nodded "Do it commander"

He nodded and got the attention of a few of his squad mates, he began making hand signs with his right hand, which they seemed to understand easily. When he finished they jumped into action with five ARC's raising their blasters to the rooftops and beginning to pour concentrated blaster fire upon them, it was then that two more ARC's, armed with rocket launchers ran into the open, got down on a knee, aimed their massive weapons and fired, the rockets aims were true, crashing into the rooftops and blowing them apart.

A grim silence followed and after Gabriel checked the surrounding area through the force he summoned the column to continue on, as they began running again the Commissar came up beside him "That was impressively done, they didn't even need to speak"

"The ARC divisions are some of the most elite in the GA military commissar" Gabriel replied "Their divisions have been in play since a time known as the clone wars and they specialise in this type of urban warfare. Guerrilla fighting, sniping, fast attack and sabotage are their specialty"

"No doubt" the Commissar replied "I wouldn't mind a squad of these troopers myself"

------

Revan looked out over the space battle one more time; capital-ships were now side by side, blasting away at each other with their lance and plasma batteries. Surrounding them were swarms of starfighters, seen because of the countless flashes of lasfire and plumes of explosions. The battle in orbit had finished, Mynn's little star destroyer and her assigned force of cruisers stood, battered but victorious over the burning husks of the _Slaughter-class _cruisers they were fighting, the battle here had been harsh with two of his own cruisers destroyed and the rest suffering damage, he growled angrily, remembering why he liked to stay away from large scale confrontations.

The enemies lead battleship was still there, battered but still combat worthy with a small cluster of frigates and destroyers surrounding her, they had been trying to follow the _Reverent Blade_ in a desperate attempt to stop them from reaching planet side but the planets three _Mars-class _Battlecruisers were doing a good job at keeping them contained, another two _Lunar-class _cruisers were en route, having finished their own engagements.

Revan smiled triumphantly behind his face mask, they couldn't stop them now, he turned to Admiral Saul who also had a triumphant smile on his ageing features "Admiral you may release the first wave of assault pods, I think my boys have waited for long enough"

"Yes sir" Saul replied before turning towards the bridge crew and relaying the order. Within moments he saw the first wave of ten assault pods shot out of their respective launch tubes and drop towards the planets, being completely enveloped in the red hot fires of the planets upper atmosphere.

------

Sorcerer Valmont looked up to the sky and cursed as another wave of the strange solar-panel winged fighters came down for another pass, unleashing another salvo of green lasfire. The column of traitor guard that they targeted didn't stand a chance and were cut down as a result, the anti-air vehicles immediately opened fire, spraying the sky with lasfire in an attempt to hit the nimble starfighters.

The sudden superiority of these fighters told the Epsilon level Psyker one very important detail, they had just lost control of the skies. Their last aerofighters had fallen in flaming wrecks to the ground leaving the skies to this new faction, without them the enemy fighters had complete control and were tearing the rearguard legions apart with strafing and bombing runs.

That wasn't the worst part however; it was one of the Chaos marines who saw them first, large bulky silhouettes in the darkness, lumbering towards them from the southwest. As they came closer the Sorcerer felt the small tremors of the ground shaking under his feet, whatever these new machines were they were big, very big, at least 5m tall and covered in alien weapon emplacements. Surrounding them was a swath of smaller walkers similar in appearance to an Imperium Sentinel with several Lemon Russ and Predator battle tanks painted in no Imperium colours he had ever seen.

Above them were several dozen assault gunships of different shapes and sizes, obviously full of soldiers and weapons, from the sky a small swarm of the unknown fighters encircled them, protecting them from the few surviving aerofighters who were desperately trying to intercept them.

"All surviving predators get into a skirmish line and fire on my mark" the sorcerer ordered into his helmet com, from the back he heard the squealing sounds of tank tracks, the last few Chaos predators and assault dreadnoughts who survived the strafing runs were lumbering into position, five predators and three dreadnoughts. No where near enough to halt this advance, hinder them maybe.

"For the dark gods…fire!"

As one the lined up predators fired their main cannons, the barrels of their guns recoiling as they unleashed the tainted shells upon the advancing army. The front two walkers took the brunt of the barrage and exploded in a hail of shrapnel and fire, the larger four-legged machines were not so easily deterred. They returned fire, unleashing powerful salvos of green lasfire from the guns located on their box-shaped heads, the blasts hit the line head on, charring the armour and blasting the chassis of one of the dreadnoughts wide open, showing the remains of the undead marine within. As the exchanging of fire continued Valmont saw the front of one of his tanks explode under combined fire, then another and another until finally his tank was all that remained, it fired another shell, taking the legs of one of the escort walkers before it was pulverised by combined fire.

Valmont was thrown from the top of his exploding predator, landing in a bloodied heap several meters away. His armour was ripped and charred by shrapnel and fire, some piercing through the armour into his body, plunging through skin, bones and vital organs, blood dripped from his scarred mouth and as he took his final ragged breaths he saw the impressive forms of the four-legged walkers as they lumbered by.

------

Commander Bass aimed his lasgun and gunned down a trio of heretics who were racing down the corridors of the command spire, his Kasrkin bodyguards gathered around him, also pouring concentrated lasfire into the hallway with their modified hellguns. The command spire had been under heavy attack since an hour after the walls were breached with hordes of cultists storming the towers surrounding sandbag walls, killing the guards who were stationed to defend them and storming into the main entrances of the command centre.

That had been their first error, because the first rooms they entered where the reception, which was a large rectangular room, surrounded with railed walkways above and with no real cover for the entering troops they were mercilessly gunned down by the squads of Imperials stationed on the walkways and balconies, killing a few hundred before they finally managed to break through.

Ever since then the tower had been labelled a contested area with traitors and loyalists battling in the rooms, the corridors and the walkways of the tower, bodies were everywhere, some places were so bad that advancing forces had to trudge through a sea of dead. If that wasn't bad enough a small force of Chaos Raptors had landed on the roof of the spire and had destroyed the artillery and anti-air batteries stationed there, his men and he did kill them off but not until half of his own Kasrkins were killed in return.

Finally they reached the top of the tower, a small room overlooking the entire city and what the commander saw terrified him, half of the city was in flames, the other half was in ruins and just barely visible in the streets and on the rooftops were the dark forms of fighting troops, explosions and flashes of lasfire showed just how truly heavy the fighting was.

The commander face fell at the destruction that had befallen the city that he had been charged to defend, so this was it, the tower was the main entrance to the underground chambers that were underneath the city and as vast as they were he knew that eventually they would find the civilians who were hiding there. He had failed them, it was that simple.

"Commander" one of his Kasrkins said, a black gloved hand pointing towards the sky "Those look like drop pods"

At once his face snapped up towards the sky were the afterburners of several dozen assault pods could be seen, like flickering fireflies in the night sky, he didn't need a closer look at them, those pods belonged to the Space marines. His suspicions were proven true when he saw one of the pods drop past the tower, it was black and silver in colour with the sign of two lightsabres clashing together painted on its side, they had come, the Black Fists had finally come.

A drop pod hit the platform ten meters away from where the commander stood, its thrusters giving it enough of a cushioned landing so as not to break through the metal decking. The walls of the pod fell outwards and running out of the breach was a group of four space marines, their armour shining black and silver, the intimidating bulky forms of bolters held in their gauntleted hands.

Following them was a much more slender figure, completely dressed in skin tight black battle-armour with an assortment of blades, pistols and a cylindrical device latched onto a half dozen belts. Her long black hair was held up by long needles. A long midnight blue cloak fell from her shoulders and billowed in the high altitude winds as she walked towards the commander and his Kasrkins. Behind her the four space marines trotted towards the entrance of the building and formed into a skirmish line, bolters held ready to fire at a moments notice.

"Commander Bass" she said as she brought herself to attention and saluted "It has been a long time"

"Yes a very long time" Bass replied as he recognised the girl, he had been a toddler when he last saw her and, needless to say she had not aged a day since then "Sonya Revan Shan"

"You remember me commander" she replied with a slight grin, the sudden hysterical sounds of laughter and chants brought their attention to the only real entrance to the platform, a set of double doors at least three meters across. Twenty cultists, armed with laspistols and blades ran through the wrecked doors, the space marines reacted instantly; pouring bolter rounds into their flanks, bolter shells flew out of their guns as they continued their merciless barrage, before long the cultists were nothing more than a mound of smouldering bodies on the floor.

Immediately the four marine broke into a dash, passing through the doors and poured more bolter fire into the corridors. The commander heard the death screams of even more cultists and traitors, the red flashes of returned lasfire ricocheted harmlessly off of their armour as they continued their almost terrifying assault. As they continued their barrage there was a flash of light and another four marines appeared beside them, each adding their own salvo of bolter shells into the barrage instantly.

Teleportation, the only way for such a device to properly work was if there was a tracker device at the targeted site, if that wasn't there then the people being teleported would end up anywhere in the city or in the worse case scenario stuck in a wall. Using a tracker attached to the armour of one of the marines already onsite was the only safe way to teleport from one place to another, and even then it had to be in an open space, like this platform for instance.

"Well commander" Sonya said as she bagan walking towards the double-doors, drawing a pair of duelling laspistols "Lets take back your city"

------

Lieutenant Ferr watched as another of his ARC troopers fell to the almost fanatical onslaught of Chaos Raptors, they had been attacked the moment they hit the ground and now the rooftop that his three squads had landed on was covered with the bodies of both his ARC troopers and Chaos Raptors. His men were putting up a fight but the superior numbers of the raptors were showing, he had lost well over half of his men while the raptors were still coming, their chain-swords and myriad of other weapons at the ready.

He drew his duelling blaster pistols, long barrelled weapons powerful enough to blast through dark trooper armour and fired, the red blasts smashed into the raptor charging him and ripped through his chest plate, another couple of rounds sent him back to his dark gods. The Lieutenant spun on his heel and instinctively jumped backwards, just barely missing the revving blade of a chain-sword by millimetres and squeezed of a couple of more rounds, the blasts caught the raptor in his helmet, tearing through and leaving a gaping hole in the side of his head.

He managed a tired glance at the other side of the centre where blasts of warp fire were clearly seen, obviously their young Jedi friend was keeping the sorcerer busy, but for how much longer. Either way his units required reinforcements fast, they were now down to a quarter of their original strength, a truth which was blatantly obvious when the trooper in front of him was stabbed by the chain-sword of a raptor, the chainsaw blade ripping through his chest plate sending fragments of armour, bone and blood in every possible direction. He raised his blasters, aimed for the culprit marine and fired a volley of shots which ripped his armour to shreds and killed him with precise shots to his chest and head.

Across the way sorcerer Talge struck out with his twisted staff, unleashing a powerful wave of warp energy at the charging force Psyker, she jumped high into the air and somersaulted over him, missing the blast of warp energy and struck out with her gold bladed lightsabre. The energy blade missed his armour by mere millimetres and as she landed on the ground she just managed to bring her red bladed lightsabre up in time to block a sweeping strike from the sorcerer's chaos imbued staff.

She starred straight into his eye visors, feeling his psychic gaze try to break through her mental defences, she wouldn't allow that however and swung with her golden lightsabre, but only hit air as he vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing above her and swinging downwards with his staff, unleashing a torrent of warp fire, the same move he used to destroy the artillery batteries below. The girl blurred out of existence again, but was forced to keep moving as every time she slowed a fireball was right above her, blasting large craters into the armoured rooftop. Finally she was caught by the aftershock of one of the blasts, thrown across the roof and landing with a sharp thud against a wall. The sorcerer approached her, swinging his staff experimentally as if testing its weight, as he towered over her he grabbed the hilt of the lightsabre attached to his belt and thumbed it to life, a silver blade held against his next victims throat.

"What an ending" Talge said mockingly "Your life ended by the blade of one of your own…do you wish to hear how this one screamed as I plunged his own weapon through his heart?"

"Shut up" Alana breathed.

The sorcerer laughed in response "Amusing, a warrior till the very end. Perhaps I'll imprison your soul in the blade of one of your lightsabres"

"You won't get the chance" a musical voice said from behind him, before the sorcerer could turn the blade of a witchblade plunged through his back, exiting his chest, it cut sideways destroying organs and slicing through bone before exiting the chaos servants side, he let out s sputtered cry and fell down dead on the concrete floor.

"What took you so long?" Alana asked as Ishta, fully kitted in her black and white mesh armour gently hauled her to her feet with her free hand, the other holding the beautiful and elegant witchblade, whose blade ran red with the blood of the sorcerer she had just killed. Behind her was a full squad of white armoured ARC troopers, further guarded by the intimidating forms of two YVH combat droids.

"Can you stand?" Ishta asked, completely ignoring the sarcastic question that the young Imperial Jedi had asked.

"I can do better than that" Alana replied as she shakily got to her feet "I can fight"

------

Lord Inquisitor Kane looked up to the skies just in time to see the second wave of assault pods plunge through the black clouds and fall like stones towards the cities surface. He had felt the unmistakeable feeling of space marines and force psykers within the first wave of atmospheric pods but in this second pod he felt the presences of even more including the old, well shielded minds of terminators, dreadnoughts, assault marines and several millennia old force psykers.

He turned to his brother, the eye visors of his mask glowing with a dim crimson hue. He was among them, his essence was unmistakeable, a feeling of power that matched the two of them combined, a thought reached out towards them, piercing through their mental defences as if they were mere paper, the voice was sharp and menacing.

_I am here Brothers of Blood. Face me!!!_

The mental voice had not changed in the century since the last time they had faced him, it radiated power and the will to both control and use it. This was the being that starred into their glowing eyes and spat at their faces, the being who cut down their finest apprentices, the being who lead the destruction of their last great army, the being who showed them that the warp wasn't the only true power in the universe.

_Where are you Revan the Grey _Kahn spat angrily. _This will not be the same as last time, our powers have quadrupled since the last time we have fought!!!_

_Come and get me warp spawn _Revan replied spitefully _I and my kin will crush you and your pitiful army yet again!_

**I am sorry to say that I won't be able to update for about two to three weeks because I am away on holiday tomorrow but by the time I get back I may have a chapter ready for you so just be patient. Peace!**

**So how was it, I hope I didn't overdo this one, this time I decided to play my hand at urban, or city combat but in the next chapter you will be quit happy to see plenty of combat involving space marines, terminators, dreadnoughts and so on. Plus I will be introducing a new character from the KOTOR saga, guess who.**


	38. Blood & Sorcery: Part III

_**Chapter 37**_

_**Blood & Sorcery**_

_**Part III**_

Alana and Ishta jumped down upon the squad of red armoured traitor guards that were running towards the centre, lightsabre igniting and witchblades unsheathed, they both cut down two traitors each by the time they hit the ground. As they landed they spun on their heels, beginning a beautiful and deadly dance, deflecting lasfire and slicing through the carapace armour of the guards, within moments it was over.

They turned in time to see four black drop pods ignite their thrusters as they hit the ground, their side doors falling open in time to allow their compliments of space marines and force psykers to jump into the fight. The few squads of mutants and traitors who had made their way to the centre were mowed down by bursts of bolter and plasma fire, as the fire fight continued the surviving chaos raptors abandoned their skirmish with the ARC troopers on the rooftops to engage the space marines. As they hovered towards them they found themselves caught in crossfire between the marines of the Black Fists and the ARC trooper's heavy weapons, cutting most of them down before they hit the ground.

Alana and Ishta ran into the fray with their weapons ready and their eyes ablaze with their respective powers, streams of warp lightning and massive chunks of debris flew through the air, colliding with the raptors and leaving them wide open for the marines to finish the job. As the last raptor fell the ARC troopers began using their recently liberated rooftops as sniping positions, giving covering fire to the beleaguered units of Imperial Guards, giving them a chance to regroup and counterattack.

A third and final wave of atmospheric assault pods burst through the dark clouds above and within them Alana felt the powerful presence of Revan and his oldest force psykers along with dreadnoughts, terminators and devastator squads. As the last few pods fell to the ground a fresh wave of cultists ran into the city centre and were mercilessly cut down by the marines as they all dived for cover and prepared for a long battle.

"Its like shooting rats in a barrel" one of the marines howled as he peppered the charging cultists with bolter fire.

"These are just cannon fodder Brother Chartis" another marine replied as he let out a controlled burst into a cluster of cultists "Don't waste your ammunition, controlled bursts"

"Yes Sir" Chartis replied.

"Master Rev" the Brother-Champion shouted to one of the force-psykers who were taking cover with his squad, a muscular bald headed man wearing charred light armour with a tattered black and silver cloak "We could use some cover!"

"Very well Brother-Champion Harris" Rev replied before deactivating his lightsabre and raising his hands towards the charging horde. Suddenly the ground began to shake and the earth in front of them began to heave and convulse, within a few moments spikes of rock shot up from the ground, impaling the entire front line of cultists, earth and soil rose with it, creating a natural wall of rock, concrete and dirt "Is that to your liking?"

"You force psykers never cease to bore me Rev" Harris shouted as he lifted his power-sword into the air "Marines front and centre!!!"

As one the space marines, ARC troopers and psykers ran for the wall and took cover, spraying bolter, las, blaster and psychic power into the suddenly weary chaos soldiers mowing them down easily and causing them to run back for cover. Alana and Ishta found themselves among the defenders, using their pistols to gun down a few retreating cultists before they too found cover.

"This just seems far too easy" an ARC trooper spoke up "Where are the guardsmen, the chaos marines, the lesser sorcerers?"

As if on cue he heard the united thundering of booted feet, from the streets came a mass of red armoured traitor Guards, marching in skirmish lines towards the city centre, a cluster of Chaos marines armed with storm bolters and flamers leading them, laughing maniacally and shouting chilling praises to the blood god.

"Ask and ye shall receive brother" the space marine beside him muttered, before aiming down the spine of his bolter and pulling the trigger.

------

The predator assault tanks spilled out of the city and formed into a skirmish line just outside of the outer walls, the Baneblade stood out in the centre of the line, its massive main turret primed and ready to fire upon the advancing wall of armour and weapons advancing towards them. A large force made up of about twenty Lemon Russ and Predator Assault tanks, mixed in with a wall of sentinels and similar looking walkers. But standing out from the rest were a group of three four legged battle walkers, at least 5m tall and covered with weapons, it was these behemoths that trudged through the rearguard group of armoured vehicles with ease.

Lord Sorcerer Kane sat on top of the turret of the Baneblade, his staff casually shouldered as he examined this mass of armour heading towards his forces position. He would leave the interior battle with the space marines to his older brother. It was this fight, with tanks and heavy artillery that he excelled at.

_Fire_

His psychic words forcefully pushed themselves into the minds of the tank commanders, letting them now that the time was right. As one the predators and Baneblade opened up with their main cannons and a hail of shells peppered the approaching armoured line of tanks and walkers. Two Lemon Russ tanks vanished into blooms of fire and debris, a sentinel lost a leg and fell to the ground, exploding as it hit.

_Advance_

As one the tanks advanced towards the armoured column, their firing now completely random as they squealed forward. It was the enemies turn and they unleashed a hail of tank shells and powerful lasers. The predator beside Kane's Baneblade erupted in a blast of fire from its front, punching through its blood red armour plating and mangling its main gun, another explosion signalled the death of another tank, and another. Those four legged walkers were truly an irritating force on the battlefield, but his Baneblade was the decider.

_Commander, aim a shell for the main walkers head…do not miss_

He relaxed as the turret turned slightly and the main gun rising to the needed height to fire at the walker, the main gun recoiled as it fired and the shell could be clearly seen, a ball of fire with a trail of pitch black smoke billowing in its wake. Kane watched the shell pummel into the walkers head, causing a massive explosion, the walker stopped its advance and started to stumble, as Kane watched the smoke clear he smiled fanatically, the head had been blown completely off. The walker stumbled one last time and fell forward, kicking up clouds of dirt and rain water as it hit the ground.

_Not so invincible after all_

A sense of danger and he vanished in a blur, reappearing on the turret of a trailing predator tank in time to see the Baneblade bear the brunt of a series of explosions from the laserfire of the other two large walkers. As the smoke cleared he saw the armour plating of the powerful super tank charred and burned through to the final layer, its main gun completely mangled and its left side gun blown straight off. A final blinding assault blasted through the weakened plating and caused a powerful explosion which decimated the Baneblades front, the tank sputtered and ground to a halt only to finally die in one last explosion as its fuel canisters caught fire and detonated.

_Not invincible but by the dark gods do they pack a menacing punch_

He looked up in time to see another of his predator assault tanks detonate from a well timed hit from the main guns of two Lemon Russ tanks, the enemy fighters were coming around for another strafing run on their line and the anti-air vehicles and mobile batteries were not doing much to deter them.

_Order all tanks to pull back to the walls and plug the gaps _he sent telepathically to every surviving tank _If we cannot defeat them here then we can at least hold them back until my brother defeats the interior problems._

------

Revan stood in the middle of a cracked and wrecked road, standing on a mound made of the bodies of mutants, traitors and marines who thought that they could kill him, their last mistake he thought as he descended down the mountain of bodies, his lightsabre still active in his right hand. Looking up he saw the unmistakeable form of an approaching Predator tank, its gold and red hull marking it as a vehicle of the World Eaters and standing on the top of the monstrosity was the being that he had been planning to kill for the last one hundred years.

Lord Sorcerer Kahn jumped off of the approaching tank, landed on his feet and began walking towards the armour robed figure of Revan, his eyes and staff encompassed by eerie red power. There was no need for them to exchange words; they knew that this battle would only end with one of them lying mangled on the street and the victor towering over the defeated.

Revan extinguished the blade of his lightsabre and clipped the weapon to his belt; Kahn likewise sheathed his staff across his back. This battle would not be fought with weapons but with the powers that they both wielded, it was the dark gods of the warp versus the will of the force. Revan began the duel, raising his black gloved hands and discharging a salvo of green lightning. Kahn dived to the side missing the deadly blast. It struck the predator tank head on, turning it into a mangled wreck. As Kahn came out of his role he fired several warp fireballs towards Revan only to see them stopped by his hands and deflected to the side, crashing through the shattered windows of the surrounding buildings and exploding.

In a blur of motion the Force Master surged forward, a blade of pure energy appearing in his hands, he raised it over his head and threw it as if he were throwing a spear. Kahn raised his hand and created a barrier. He had been at the brunt of such an attack before and knew that trying to dodge it was the worst thing to do. His thoughts proved correct as the blade of green light shattered in midair, becoming dozens of green energy shards. They peppered his barrier, each shard exploding on contact but his shield held firm.

A blur of motion and the ancient force master was beside him, his bronze and red mask hiding the old warriors face. Kahn turned and was hit in the stomach by a blast of green force lightning, a point blank assault that sent him reeling through the street and crashing through the wall of an office block. Revan approached the sorcerer as he got to his feet and stumbled through the opening he just created, the Chaos sorcerer looked up, his black eye visors alive with warp energy. He raised his hands and screamed in anger as he unleashed a powerful shockwave of power, the concrete heaved and shook as veins as red as blood seared through, a portal appeared behind the sorcerer and within were a hundred pairs of hungry eyes, all whispering the same unholy thing. In his rage Kahn had opened a portal to the warp and allowed the daemons that resided within to spill out into the material universe.

------

Chaos Champion Slann could only look on as the brown robed woman cut through his last marine, the cobalt energy blade she wielded slicing off his head in one clean stroke. She turned to face him, the eerie light that her weapon caste upon the chamber illuminating the surrounding area and showing the huddled forms of civilians cowering behind the psyker including many young women and children.

He had lead over five hundred soldiers into the main control spire of the city, fighting off the defending guards and finding the main entrance to the underground caverns that were situated below the city. Once they had entered the caverns they slaughtered the few squads of loyalist defenders and fanned out in search of standards and sacrifices for their victory. For hours he and his force had fought their way through the labyrinth of corridors and pathways, losing more of his troops to surprise attacks from the corpse emperor's followers and finally when he and his few surviving troops find a chamber full of civilians for their sacrifices they run into this.

The woman in front of him was completely dressed in brown robes, an oversized hood worn over her head, enshrouding the top half of her face in shadows. She held a blade of pure energy in her hands, it was not one of their mythical lightsabres because it didn't even have a hilt, she was holding onto the energy with her bare hands. As she danced and spun the robes billowed and flapped showing the skin tight black combat suit, showing her curves and womanly features almost perfectly. Seductive, beautiful, deadly, these were words that the champion used to describe this creature now facing him.

He roared and grabbing the hilt of his power sword swung it in a sweeping arc, aiming to cut the female in front of him in half. No such luck as his sword was blocked by the cobalt coloured blade, almost with no effort the psyker batted his blade away and spun with such incredible grace, her brown robes again billowing as if caught by a none existent wind, swinging her blade in a steep arc. Slann brought his power-sword up to intercept and watched with disbelief as his blade shattered under the raw power of the stroke. With a flick of her wrist the fight was over, the blue blade cut through his waist, slicing him neatly in half.

She turned away from the mangled marines that she had fought and willed the weapon she held to disappear before looking up at the ceiling. Her azure eyes looking past the tonnes of rock, concrete and dirt which separated her from the surface and saw the purpose for the sudden tremor felt through the force. Grimacing at the very sight of the warp gate she turned towards the terrified innocents, their safety came first.

------

The explosions of bolters and the flashes of blaster fire from the central plaza were continuous as the space marines and ARC troopers continued their relentless assault, peppering lines of cultists and traitor guard with their weapons, dropping so many that the lines behind had to trudge over their own dead to keep going. From the rooftops surrounding the centre ARC trooper crack teams continued to pour blaster fire upon the latter ranks, aiming for anyone with a rank in the hope of making the Chaos army panic.

"This is endless" Alana yelled over the deafening weapons discharges, forcing out the power pack of her blaster and slamming in a new one "I'm on my last power pack for this thing!"

Ishta was sitting against the makeshift wall panting heavily, her psychic and mental strength sapped. She took one look at her shuriken pistol, scowled at the now useless weapon and threw it away before picking up the blaster of a fallen ARC trooper and fired several more shots at the approaching army. A few shots later and the blaster sputtered.

"By the gods" Ishta cursed as she fumbled with the alien weapon, wishing that she had swallowed her pride and allowed Gabriel to show her how to use it "What is wrong with this arcane contraption!?"

"It needs a new cartridge" Alana shouted as she crawled towards her, unbuttoning a satchel on the fallen troopers belt and pulling out a power pack "Just push the button above the handle and slam this wherever the other pack falls out!"

"Why didn't you let me show you how to use that thing Ishta" a familiar voice shouted over the gunfire and explosions "It's not the same as a Shuriken!"

Before the two women could turn the line of fatigued marines and troopers was reinforced by over a hundred Imperial Guards, Kasrkins and ARC troopers. The fresh soldiers fell into place, pouring las and blaster fire into the approaching ranks, three dreadnoughts followed, their presence bolstering the beleaguered defenders as they put their storm bolters and assault cannons to good use. Gabriel fell in beside them, no longer wearing his Jedi robes, his light armour caked in layers of mud and gravel. He held a pair of assault blaster pistols in his hands and fired several rounds over the defences.

_Your late master _Alana sent to him smugly over their bond

_Sorry, sorry, just got lost on the walk of life _Gabriel sent back as he ruffled his apprentice's messy blonde hair. _How are you holding up? It is your first battle after all_

_Don't worry about me _

_That's your line for everything these days _Gabriel replied as he put a hole into the head of a mutant with his blasters. _You are like a daughter to me. It is my obligation and my instinct to be worried about you no matter how sure of yourself you are_

"Get out your lightsabres" Ishta interrupted as she dropped the blaster and unsheathed her blood soaked witchblades "They're about to run over this pile of dirt you force psykers call a wall!!!"

_So feisty _Gabriel muttered mentally.

_Tell me about it_ Alana replied before she looked up, her eyes widened _Master, aboveabove!!!_

Gabriel looked up and his own eyes widened in shock, above them were several dozen winged silhouettes, their lithe forms making them look human but they soared on long wings.

"What in the name of the force is that!?"

"Daemonettes!!!" a marine shouted before raising his bolter and firing a long burst into the sky, likewise half the marines and Imperial Guards raised their rifles and bolters, completely forgetting about the advancing traitors and peppered the sky with streaks of lasfire and salvoes of bolter shells. The daemons tucked their wings close to their bodies and dived down towards them. Piercing screams echoed through the air and several imperials broke from their positions and started to run, only to be pounced upon by the warp monsters, their claws and talons digging into their flesh and lifting them off the ground. It was only then that Gabriel got a close look, they looked like women with long crimson red hair and pink skin, they had dragon like wings, and their eyes were blood shot, long claws and talons extended from their hands and feet and as they opened their mouths the Jedi master saw rows of needle sharp teeth. They wore black leather clothes that left nothing to the imagination. In fact they wore nothing more than what looked like a leather bikini.

"Master behind you"

Gabriel spun on his heel, his lightsabre activating in his hands just in time to decapitate a cultist who had clambered over the dirt, he then raised his hand and summoning the force unleashed the full power of a force-hurricane. The blast of wind threw five cultists and traitors back over the earth mound, crashing into the ranks of chaos followers behind them and impaling them upon their weapons. Above the line the Daemonettes circled around them like vultures soaring above a kill, waiting for the right time to dive and pick up a prize, several saw the light from his lightsabre and dived down towards him, their claws ready to impale him.

_This is not good_

A thick blast of crimson laser fire flared overhead, catching one of the she-devils and vaporising her. As the other Daemonettes broke into steep climbs Gabriel turned to see two AT-AT walkers stomp their way through the flood of Chaos soldiers towards them, a sea of white and silver at their feet showing the advancing columns of stormtroopers and shadow guardians. LAAT gunships and a myriad of other support craft flew overhead, firing at the confused and panicked chaos army with their weapon turrets and rocket launchers.

Screaming a war-cry several force psykers clambered over the hill and jumped into the confused traitors, cutting a path of death with their lightsabres. The space marines and other soldiers followed, clashing with the front line, blood spattered as metal cut through flesh. Gabriel force-jumped high into the air with Alana and Ishta following suit and sliced a chaos marine from the top of his helm to his groin, cutting him neatly in half. Ishta howled the call of the Banshee and began to dance, her twin witchblades dripping blood and gore as they cut through traitor guards, mutants and cultists as easily as paper. Alana fell into a cluster of traitor guards and unleashed a powerful blast of force energy which threw them like rag dolls in every possible direction.

Already many cultists and mutants were beginning to flee, opting to run away and fight another day instead of standing their ground with the World Eaters and apprentices of the Blood Brothers. As their flock began to panic many of the chaos marines and berserkers simply charged and fought to the very end, continuing to chant their praises to the blood god, the battle may have been won but the fight was far from over.

------

Daemons of different shapes and sizes spilled out of the warp portal into the material world, screaming unholy chants and blood chilling roars into the night sky. The skies became infested by the winged silhouettes of Daemonettes and the ground trembled from a thousand charging daemons. Revan raised his hands and unleashed as much power as he could safely control, jagged flashes of green lightning and blasts of fire streaked across the void, striking down dozens of daemons and turning them from physical beings to wisps of red mist, sending them back to the warp.

Within a few moments squads of space marines joined him, their bolters firing steady streams of shells, killing off more of the foul monsters as they came rushing out of the portal. From the sky clusters of assault troopers dived into the mass of chaos daemons, looking like patches of black in a sea of reds, pinks and purples, their chain-swords grinding through the unnatural flesh. But they were heavily outnumbered and one by one the patches of marines vanished within the bloody sea, overrun and massacred by the masses of daemons.

Force Psykers joined the fight; their lightsabres alight with colour as they jumped to Revans side. His daughter appeared beside him and punched a hole into a horned daemon with a blast of force energy. Before long a barrier was created around the portal, containing the unholy incursion of warped monsters but it was getting weaker, more powerful warp beasts were stampeding through the portal and the Daemonettes who were striking from the sky were joined by the much larger silhouettes of warp dragons and wyverns.

"Father we can't hold out like this much longer" Sonya said as she gritted her teeth and shrugged off the urge to wipe away the sheen of sweat from her brow "The longer we wait the stronger they will become!"

"Agreed, all force psykers with me" he shouted before gathering the force around him and channelling it through his body, unleashing it as a beam of concentrated green energy. The beam blasted through the ranks of daemons creating a temporary path right through them to the now glowing form of Kahn. Together Revan and another twenty force psykers speared their way into the closing path, their lightsabres blurs of deadly colour, lobbing off limps and cutting through deformed torsos.

Kahn saw them and raising his hand unleashed a terrifying blast of warp energy making Revan and his strike team jump away into the sea of daemons surrounding them. Three of his knights were too slow and caught in the blast of power, their bodies turned into charred husks of what they once where. His taskforce was now separated and every few moments he flinched involuntarily as another of his knight's fell to the overwhelming daemons. His force numbering twenty brave souls when they charged into the fray now numbered eleven and falling by the minute.

He created a force bubble around himself and wadded through the masses, feeling the lives of a few dozen of his space marines wink out of existence as they clashed with the daemons, trying desperately to get to their commanders before it was too late.

Finally Revan blasted through to the warp portal, a rippling mass of red energy which bubbled with the cries of thousands of tortured souls. Panting heavily Revan began to mumble an ancient incantation, specially made by the first force masters when they fought the forces of chaos so many millennia ago. He felt his force bubble begin to waver and dissipate as he poured more of his power into the incantation, the warp gate had to be closed, no matter the cost. He felt his daughter jump up beside him and forcing her force ability past her limitations, creating a barrier around her father and allowing him to continue with his ancient sealing spell.

He breathed a thank you and continued onward, his own ability still wavering even if he didn't have to defend himself. A ball of blindingly pure white light appeared in front of him and with a flick of his wrist he grabbed it and channelled as much energy as he possibly could into it, it was only then that he threw it into the portal and watched with satisfaction as it sputtered and died, collapsing in on itself and imploding with a powerful tremor of shockwaves and a gust of wind. Kahn screamed in anger, tinged with fear as the daemons and ruinous powers of the warp took their payment, blasting him through the portal before it finally closed, condemning him to an eternity in the hells of the Immaterium.

It was only then that Revan, spent and exhausted fell to his knees, pulling his mask off of his face so that he could breath. Sonya fell beside him, her own powers spent and close to letting the sweet darkness of unconsciousness take her; he looked over to her and managed a weakened smile. The daemons which threatened to make the city vanish in a sea of bloody colours had turned into red wisps of mist, powerless and unable to keep their physical forms without the warp portal to sustain them.

A barrage of warp shards suddenly encompassed him, peppering his and Sonya's armour with sharp spikes of warp energy. Kane appeared before them, dropping the limp body of an Imperial guard beside him before looking up to stare at Revan with warped, hate filled eyes. Sonya tried to rise to her feet, her entire body shaking with the effort. Kane simply raised his hand and released a blast of energy, blasting a hole into her armour and through her shoulder, she screamed in pain and fell backwards, coughing up blood as she hit the ground.

Revan himself then tried to rise but was thrown into a wall and held there by the seething sorcerer lords will. He then walked casually over to Sonya and kneeling down beside her blasted her with a wave of arc lightning right on the injured shoulder, she screamed again as thousands of volts jolted through her body. Kane simply threw his head back and laughed, blasting away the few surviving space marines who had survived the battle with a barrage of warp fire.

"A fair trade don't you think" he said venomously to Revan "You took my brother so I will take your daughter, and I will make you watch as I kill her. Go on scream for help, squeal" he said as he squeezed her shoulder wound to the point that blood started to flow "No ones going to save you now!!!"

There was a musical war-cry and the psycho-plastic armoured form of Ishta appeared above the sorcerer, her twin witchblades pointed down to deliver a killing blow. She was just stopped in midair as if caught by an invisible hand; the sorcerer wasn't even looking in her direction.

_An Eldar among us lowly humans _Kane said as his head cranked up to get a glimpse of the Ulthwe warlock. _How very interesting…and pathetic_

Ishta suddenly started to howl and scream in pain as Kane unleashed a torturous wave of warp energy, breaking through the warlocks mental defences and making every nerve membrane in her body feel as if it was on fire, every vein in her body feel like it was carrying molten lava. With a flick of his wrist Kane smashed a concentrated volley of energy at Ishta, hitting her helmet and cracking it neatly in half, the broken pieces fell to the blood soaked ground letting the Eldar females long white hair cascade past her shoulders, the side of her head cut open and letting her bright red blood spill down the side of her porcelain white face, dying her white hair crimson red. In a final act the lord sorcerer threw her away like a rag doll, aiming to impale her upon the sharpened remains of an iron girder.

There was a blur and Gabriel appeared in front of the Eldar's flight path, catching her limp body and landing on the ground, skidding to a halt with the female warlock in his arms. Her purple eyes were glazed over, going in and out of consciousness like a pendulum rocking back and forth.

_Gabriel? _her psychic voice asked, weak and faint.

_I'm here Ishta._

"A Jedi knight" Kane said as he turned, ignoring the fallen form of Sonya and walking casually in his direction "How very interesting, it appears that I will have to squash these bugs before I can continue my revenge"

Gabriel smiled and turned his head slightly to the right "ARC troopers…deploy!!!"

A hail of red blaster bolts cascaded down from the dark skies as a group of four ARC troopers hovered down on jetpacks. Kane waved his hand and it was like the elites of the Alliance were run over by a rampaging tank, each one hit and thrown across the sky, smashing into the ground with a series of bone crunching thuds. He spun in time to deflect another volley of crimson blaster bolts and with a palm strike threw the second group of ARC troopers flying backwards, crashing into the ruins of a wall and breaking every bone in their bodies.

As the last ARC fell limply to the bloody ground Gabriel had engaged the radical sorcerer, leaving Ishta safe in the care of Alana he jumped high into the air, cutting down with his emerald bladed lightsabre, the blade never reached him for as it came within a few feet it crashed into an invisible barrier. Kane took the chance and grabbing Gabriel's sword arm punched him full power in the stomach, sending him flying backwards and careening through a wall and leaving a crater in the one behind it.

Kane started to stalk towards the fallen Jedi, his entire form radiating death and murderous intent "You shouldn't have interfered Jedi" he said "We will deal with your kind soon enough. Once our plans are set into motion your home galaxy will fall, the Alliance left in ruins, the temples, enclaves and planets belonging to force sensitive's will burn under the fire of our armadas!"

Images started to flicker in Gabriel's mind. He saw the Jedi temples of Ossus and Corusant as smouldering ruins, chaos marines gunning down Jedi no matter what age they were, he saw younglings hiding within the council chambers hacked to pieces by berserkers, the Jedi high council members, bloodied and violated, crucified upon eight pointed stars, hung up over the corpse strewn ruins. He saw Dathomir, home to the Dathomiri witches burn under the fire of an armada of battleships and battlecruisers, the once beautiful forests of the surface burning along with the villages of the witch tribes, the surviving warrior women found and crucified upon those same eight pointed stars. Similar conclaves and holy places of other orders were found and similarly purged, the followers of the currant, the Jeenasari, the Nightsisters all found and massacred to the last.

"Your sick" Gabriel managed "You make the Sith look like saints!"

"Ah the Sith" Kane said as if chiding him "They will be next"

He saw a fleet of black hulled star destroyers burning in space, wreckage of starfighters and escort frigates strewn around them. He saw the familiar form of Dark Lady Lumiya, someone whom he considered his worst enemy for a decade fighting valiantly against the Chaos hordes, surviving Dark Jedi, apprentices and crimson armoured stormtroopers rallying around her, not enough. They were all captured and crucified on the ruined surface of Denon, the five dark gods of Chaos watching from high above with smiles on their faces.

"Enough sorcerer" Revan said as he shakily got to his feet "Your fight is here"

The sorcerer turned, breaking his nightmare hold on the Jedi master and letting him fall to the ground, coughing and sputtering. He walked over to Revan, his eyes alive with warp energy "Ah so Revan the Grey" he said, his voice low and venomous "You are to weakened to fight me. Right now I could kill you with one blast!"

"I know you can" Revan replied through ragged breaths "Which is why it's not me your fighting"

"Oh" Kane replied "And who might I be facing?"

_Me_

Kane turned in time to be struck by the most powerful force-push he had ever encountered, the force behind it throwing him through the air, bouncing off the cracked concrete and heaved earth like a pebble across water. He found his feet and skidded to a halt to see who had struck him. The woman wore long flowing brown robes, the hood up over her head hiding the top half of her features. Kane screamed in uncontrollable fury and pointed his staff towards the newcomer, unleashing the most powerful beam of warp energy he had ever fired.

The woman raised her right hand palm up and the beam was halted, the power made her skid backwards and the hood fly off of her head showing long dark blonde hair and emerald green eyes, her skin was pale, smooth, unblemished and even in the heat of his rage the sorcerer had to marvel at the woman's beauty. She pushed her hand forward firing a powerful salvo of green force lightning, pushing back the warp energy thrown against her and smashing straight into the fatigued chaos sorcerer, the green lightning encompassed him, burning every nerve ending and coursing through his veins.

This attack was known as the lightning of redemption, a powerful attack not so different to the dark sides force lightning; only its power was increased tenfold. In the entire history of lightside force psykers only a handful, including Revan were ever able to summon it, and never to the degree of finesse and control that this one psyker was showing.

"Wait, wait" Kane found himself shouting as the lightning continued to flow through him, ravaging his organs and destroying his nerve centres "I know you, my master warned me about you, your that force psyker…Exile, you're the Jedi Exile!!!"

"Oh" the exile said as she continued the onslaught "And who is your master? I know that this power you have shown is not your own, someone is lending it to you…who?"

The sorcerers armour started to chip and crack, his helmet breaking in two showing the grotesque features of a man corrupted by the ruinous powers underneath, even through the pain Kane smiled at the exile.

"Sorry" he said as the green energy was replaced by red "He doesn't wish you to know that yet"

He spun his staff over his head and drove it into the ground just as the lightning finished its task. A powerful shockwave blasted out in all directions, decimating any surviving ruins and burning away his flesh, leaving nothing behind but a charred black skeleton. As the shockwave crashed towards the exile and the survivors she called up a barrier, blocking the assault and containing it within a force bubble until it dissipated.

------

Deep within the ruinous energies of the Immaterium lord sorcerer Kahn screamed and roared in uncontrollable fury and rage, his hands unleashing blasts of warp energy upon any daemons that got too close. He had felt his brother's death and cursed Revan in every language he knew, he screamed threats and cries of vengeance into the warp, not caring that the Force Master wasn't there to hear them.

The sounds of laughter brought him out of his rage, resounding from every direction like a thousand fiends were laughing at once.

_Poor little sorcerer _It said. _Summoning the ruinous powers like that and not even caring about the consequences._

"Who are you!!?" Kahn screamed into the void.

_I, sorcerer of the Night Lords am your master _It replied, its voice turning into an echoing rasp that chilled Kahn to the core _I am known as Shingai, the Chaos God of fear and terror…although I suppose that since your legion did not attend my appearance you would not have heard of me._

_My legion?_

_Yes little sorcerer…if I am not mistaken your legion is known as the Night Lord…a legion that fights through instilling fear and terror into your enemies before tearing them apart_

"You do your homework" Kahn said flatly; only know realising that the masses of daemons around him had vanished into the mass of colours and clouds of the Immaterium.

_Of course little sorcerer _the voice replied _I do need to chose my own legion after all…Khorne has his world eaters, Tzeentch has the Thousand Sons, Nurgle the Death Guard and Slaneesh the Emperor's Children…_

"The Night Lords Legion does not bow to the fictional dark gods of Chaos like those other fools…we believe in the warp as simply a tool, a power source to our own ends" Kahn spat.

_Oh is that what you think…well think again _

What Kahn saw next terrified him to the core, the wisps of coloured cloud around him began to shift and move, joining together and creating a physical body ten times his size. Long black hair, drenched in blood appeared at its skull, armour that shinned with a hundred thousand colours was edged into existence and a pair of ruby red eyes starred out from the still forming black mass, turning into a shade of yellow which screamed with the terrified cries of hundreds of souls, wings sprouted from his back and clawed hands formed at his sides. The dark god of fear looked at him, his yellow eyes starring through his tainted soul.

_Tell me Night Lord…do I look like a myth to you?_

Kahn couldn't even open his mouth let alone speak out, the anguished screams of a million souls pierced through his ears making him believe that he would lose the last few scrapes of his sanity to those sickening yellow eyes which showed no emotion, no fear or hatred, they just starred into him, like they were starring through him.

_You Night Lords are getting weak and pathetic in your old age. You are leaderless and acting like little more than lowly pirates and raiders, striking at the Imperium with absolutely no real greater strategy. Your ability to incite fear into a population is why I wish for your Legion to become my own._

_M-My lord _Kahn just managed to say _T-There will be those who will not believe this…T-There will be those who will continue to see the dark gods as mere myth._

_Then I will make them see the errors of their ways little sorcerer _Shingai replied, averting his gaze from the terrified sorcerer and walking into the mist of the warp _You have proven yourself as a strong and skilled wielder of the dark arts…that warp tear you created should not have been possible without a squad of sorcerers…but you did it alone and that is a power that I can use…you will be returned to the material realm, return to the Night Lords homeworld and tell them that I wish to speak with them…understand?_

"Y-yes my master" Kahn found himself saying.

_Do this for me sorcerer and I will allow you to have your revenge_

**I hope this was a good ending to the battle…if not I'll scrape the chapter and start over. And for those of you who are getting impatient I will be starting on the Emperor soon enough, just be patient.**


	39. The Chaos Wars Begin

_**Chapter 38**_

_**The Chaos Wars Begin**_

_**I decided to add a list of all of the factions that will be in this story from both the Star Wars and Warhammer 40K galaxies. I am also going to put them in terms of Alliances that they would be in at this chapter; I may update this as the story goes along.**_

_**The Coalition**_

Galactic Federation of Free Alliances: Members include the New Republic, The Jedi Order, Dathomir, Imperial Remnant, Hapes Consortium, Bothan Space, Corporate Sector and Bakura

Imperium of Mankind: Members include the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus

_**Forces of Chaos**_

Legions of the Dark Gods: Members include the World Eaters of Khorne, Emperors Children of Slaanesh, Death Guard of Nurgle, Thousand Sons of Tzeentch and the Night Lords of Shingai

Chaos Undivided: Other Chaos legions including the Word Bearers, Iron Warriors, Black Legion and the Alpha Legion

_**Independent Nations**_

Eldar Craftworlds: Members include the known Craftworlds of Alaitoc, Altansar, Biel-Tan, Il-Kaithe, Lyanden, Iybraesil, Kaelor, Lugganath, Saim-Hann, Ulthwe and Yme-Loc. Possibly more.

Chiss Ascendancy

Tau Empire

Mandalorian Sector

Ork Empires

Yuuzhan Vong Nation

Tyranid Hive-Fleets

Alliance of Zonama Sekot: An Alliance of Yuuzhan Vong and Feorrians on the living planet of Zonama Sekot

Necron

Hutt Space

Dark Eldar Raiders

_**Dissolved Empires**_

Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium

------

Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine stood on the command deck of the Imperium diplomatic cruiser, a _Lunar-class _cruiser named the _Emperor's Hand _watching the bluish swirls and movements of the wormhole as it continued its usual cycle. All around it was a mass of old platforms retrofitted with special equipment to keep the anomaly safe and stable.

A little further out from the wormhole was a cluster of old freighters, guarded over by three _Imperial-class _star destroyers, ready to make their jump to his home galaxy with their precious cargo, hundreds of metric tonnes of bacta. It took months to secure the trading agreements between the two empires and Silvermaine just hoped that the High Lords understood just how difficult it was.

After six months of negotiating with the Galactic Senate he came to the conclusion that the day he re-entered the mushroom shaped senate building again would be a day to soon. All they did was quarrel amongst themselves, a hundred thousand voices calling out at once to be heard within the maelstrom. Silvermaine participated during the 13th black crusade, he had been in the thick of battle, gunfire had screamed past his ears, he had heard the near deafening booms of artillery and orbital fire and he could safely say that the senate gave him a headache.

"They are on their way my lord"

"Yes admiral they are"

_**Begin Flashback**_

"_Honourable representatives of the Galactic Alliance" Silvermaine boomed from his hover-platform within the great chamber of the Alliance senate "I come before you today as a representative from the great Imperium of Mankind to give you a warning. The forces of chaos are on your doorstep, even now they are gathering their armies and armadas for all-out war against your Alliance, these murderers have been responsible for a number of unforgivable acts from genocide to the destruction of entire worlds in our home galaxy. They cannot be reasoned with" as he spoke he heard the senators begin to murmur amongst themselves, all had seen the evidence and knew exactly what the vile traitors were capable of "But I also come here today with an offer of help. We of the Imperium of Mankind have, Emperor willing, fought these monsters for over ten thousand years, we know how they fight, we know how they plan and we know how to beat them. I come here today with an offer of alliance between our two galaxy-spanning empires to that we…WE, can join forces and rid the universe of these monsters once and for all!!!"_

_A near deafening round of applause sounded from the entire senate, every senator had risen from their chairs on they're hover-platforms and clapped their hands. Confident the Lord Inquisitor sat back down on his chair and conversed with his fellow representatives, along with him was the aging, half mechanical form of Admiral Julius, Inquisitor Vallace and the intimidating forms of two space marines from the dreaded Ultramarines flanking them with their bolters held tightly against their chests._

_He looked out over the senators present and suppressed a shudder of revulsion; many of the platforms were taken up by xeno's. Some like the tail-headed Twi'lek and pink-skinned Zeltron representatives were not so bad to look at but others like the Rodians and the Bith made him feel physically sick. If he was in his home galaxy he knew that his marines would have raised their bolters and happily opened fire. Such actions would be suicidal in this situation however, for both himself and the Imperium. He knew that even though they would probably win in a war of aggression they would take almost crippling casualties._

"_If I may step forward Chief of State Omas?" a soft, feminine yet firm voice echoed through the chamber, demanding the attention of all present, including the Imperium officials._

"_The chair recognises the representative from the sovereign nation of Naboo" Omas stated with a nod from his central podium._

_There was the snap of a clamp being released and another platform hovered up into position alongside the Imperium's. Standing on the platform was the slender form of a woman, human, with long chocolate brown hair tied up in an elaborate hairstyle, dressed in flowing robes of purple. Her skin was unblemished and her eyes were a deep dark brown, when she spoke her voice was like the finest silk._

"_Lord Inquisitor" she said, locking her deep brown orbs with his "I have done extensive researching into the history of your Imperium and have to ask this simple question. Your empire has been known to be xenophobic, militaristic, highly religious and has a reputation for being expansionist. How do we now that once this war with the forces of Chaos is finished that you will not spin around and stab us in the back?"_

_There were sudden murmurs of agreement which echoed throughout the entire senate chamber. The Inquisitor felt the Admiral and marines tense and instinctively tighten their grips on their pistols and bolters. He silently cursed them, the Jedi representatives were present and they were notorious for sensing the feelings of individuals._

"_You do your homework senator" Silvermaine said, gaining a group of murderous glares from his fellows "But if you truly researched you will find that when we make a promise we keep it. If we say that we will back you and the Alliance in this fight then we will back you. If we say that we wish an alliance then we will not as you say 'stab you in the back'…we are a people who prize honour above most else"_

_The Inquisitor said that while keeping his eyes locked with the senators, neither one backing down. Finally after several moments of tense silence she closed her eyes and smiled, her features softening "Thank you my lord" she said "That is all that I wanted to hear"_

_**End Flashback**_

The rest of the session passed by with the Inquisitor answering the senates questions on how this trading and military alliance would effect them as a whole and in part. A month later the alliance was signed by the Chief of State, the High Lords, the GA supreme commander and an Imperium warmaster.

The name of this new alliance was known as the Coalition.

As Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine stood on the command deck of the Imperium diplomatic cruiser watching the cluster of freighters vanish into the wormhole he found himself thinking about that young senator from Naboo and considering that if she had been born in the Imperium she would have become a fine Inquisitor, the reason, not afraid to ask difficult questions.

------

The star destroyer escorts came through the wormhole first, three _Imperial _star destroyers formed up in a V, they were followed by a cluster of freighters, each carrying a precious cargo of bacta from one galaxy to the other. Meeting them at the other side were hundreds of warships and weapons platforms, their massive gun barrels and torpedo launchers aimed at the new arrivals. The crews of the Alliance ships were very tense, even though they were told that it was only standard procedure the amount of firepower aimed at them was enough to completely disintegrate a planet.

The star destroyers hovered to a stop in orbit, allowing the smaller freighters to descend to the surface, from orbit an honour flight of over a hundred Thunderbolt starfighters launched from nearby space stations and fell into formation around the clumsy freighters, creating a protective blanket against any threat. The Imperium had worked on getting this cargo for far too long, they would not allow anyone to threaten it.

As the freighters finally passed by the atmosphere they descended further, through the clouds and early morning mist towards their assigned landing point, a swath of towers and spires on the outskirts of the Imperial Palace with landing pads attached big enough for an _Executer _Star Dreadnought to comfortably land on. As the freighters landed their great rampways opened, allowing the teams of waiting Tech-priests and servitors to unload the precious cargo. Surrounding the landing pads was an entire Imperial Guard regiment and two companies of the Imperial Fists space marine chapter. The presence of so many soldiers made the Alliance crews nervous but thankfully the exchange was made without any problems, four hours after they landed the freighters were unloaded and were making preparations to take to the air once more.

Within the great Imperial Palace were the high lords meeting chamber, a massive room at least a mile long and a mile high, the walls were decorated with a great tapestry depicting events that took place during the Great Crusade, statues of great warriors and Imperial heroes stood against the walls once every six meters, their weapons held high in salute to the Imperium they fought and died for. In the centre of the great meeting hall was the twelve High Lords of Terra, the leaders of the Imperium in the emperor's absence, each one representing a major organisation within the Imperium of Humanity.

"The Alliance has stayed true to their word" the Lord of the Administratum, decked out in his green and black robes said "The bacta has arrived and been exchanged without incident"

"If it wasn't for they're pathetic bureaucracy it would have been done in half the time" the Master Inquisitor murmured, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"It cannot be helped" the Fabricator General replied "That is just the way they do things, remember Master Inquisitor that the Alliance is not the Imperium"

"No if they were the Imperium they wouldn't ally themselves with foul xenos or use heretical AI" the Grand Provost Marshal shot "They are nothing but heretics and xeno-lovers, why must we ally ourselves with them when we should be pounding them into the ground?"

"Although the Alliance may look like nothing more than a bureaucracy they are similar to us in that they control much of their own galaxy, their technology and military power is similar to ours plus going to war against them would put a high strain on already thin resources"

"What heretical nonsense are you spattering" the Lord of the Astronomicon growled "We could crush them with a single crusade fleet"

"And where my dear lord would we find this crusade fleet" the Fabricator General shot back heatedly "In terms of territory and military power they are our equal, they do not have enemies on all sides so their forces are not stretched thin like ours are"

"He speaks the truth" the Master Inquisitor added, if hesitantly "Do you truly believe that we can afford to make an enemy out of the alliance in our currant state?"

"The emperor is with us" the Astronomicon lord replied "He will not allow us to be defeated"

"That may be" the Inquisitor replied "But consider this, the Cadian Gate is still recovering from the great enemies last crusade, the eastern fringe is being battered by Tyranid splinter fleets and Tau incursions, the Orks have massed a fresh invasion into the Armageddon sector. If we launch a crusade into the Alliance galaxy and it fails then we will have made an enemy who can strike us right at our very heart"

"Once the emperor is revived then we will let him decide on a course of action against the Galactic Alliance" the General intervened "Until then we will work with them to ensure that the forces of Chaos do not get anymore powerful"

"Agreed"

------

The emperor lay suspended within the healing liquids of the golden throne, his psychic senses forever scouring across the length and breadth of the galaxy, watching over the million odd worlds that were part of the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Mankind. There was one event that had his full attention, that event was the masses of bacta being shipped from the other galaxy.

It would not all happen at once; he would not be healed overnight, not with the wounds that his lost son Horus had inflicted upon him. It would happen slowly, perhaps taking a few years worth of treatments before his wounds could be properly healed, his strength would slowly increase and once he was strong enough his body would begin to heal itself, then he would be ready to take the mantel of emperor once more.

A sudden series of psychic shockwaves brought his attention to the tainted swirls of the eye of terror. He strengthened his gaze tenfold, shooting through the swirling multicoloured clouds of the eye. He saw nothing, but the feeling remained, he strengthened his sight again, his gaze flying past the new gateway between the two eyes in the other galaxy. He saw a fleet of warships rivalling the size of the fleet Abaddon assembled for the 13th Black Crusade, thousands of warships ranging in size from simple escort gunships and frigates to massive cruisers and battlecruisers, there were even several _Despoiler _and _Desolator-class _battleships.

At the lead of this impressive armada was the massive armoured form of a super battleship at least fifty kilometres in length, a mass of weapon emplacements set upon layer upon layer of armoured platting, the entire warship was built around the massive barrel of an energy weapon of immeasurable power, powerful enough to crack the crust of a planet. The name of this abomination of this destruction is known with fear and hatred throughout the galaxy, _The Planet Killer._

As his eyes continued to survey the immense war-fleet he saw several front waves of warships vanish into warp tears towards the recently made fortress world of Bakura where the Alliance's combined sector fleets and Imperium battle-fleets were converging. The first battle between the Alliance and the forces of Chaos was about to begin.

------

Bakura had become a fortress world rivalling the likes of the Cadian gate. The beautiful world was now protected behind line upon line of thousands of weapon and missile platforms, massive orbital space stations, armed with powerful weapons and holding hundreds of starfighters were strategically positioned around the inner planets and moons. On the surrounding moons were recently built ion cannons and energy batteries, specially created to destroy orbiting capital-ships, underground bases and refuelling stations were built into the crust of the moons where hundreds of starfighters and bombers were situated. Ground based turbolaser batteries and ion cannons, built into bunkers and at the mouths of hangers stretched out across the surface, turning the orbiting planetoids into deadly fortresses.

On Bakura itself lines of trenches, gun turrets, pill boxes and minefields surrounded the major cities and bases. Anti-air and anti-space batteries had been strategically placed everywhere and many of the civilian population had volunteered for the planets defence forces. Tens of thousands of soldiers from stormtrooper legions and GA rifle brigades had assembled from across the Alliance along with five regiments of Imperial Guard and at least three groundside space marine companies. Teams of Jedi had been dispatched with the Imperium psykers to protect the key military personnel.

From the main balcony of the Bakuran senate General Valers watched as columns of white armoured stormtroopers stood at attention in the city centre of Salis D'aar, the city centre had become a staging ground where groups of _Acclamator-class _Assault ships were setting down and unloading their compliments of troops, supplies and munitions.

Standing with the general were fellow generals from both the Alliance and the Imperium including Brother-captain Gabriel Angelos, general Wedge Antilles and Jedi senior general Kyp Durron.

Behind them were the brown robed forms of the six Jedi that were sent from Ossus with Durron to act as their protectors, all veterans of the Yuuzhan Vong wars the general felt safe just knowing that they were present. Along with the Jedi were a company of veteran Imperial Guards, another company of the Empires dreaded red-robed Royal Guards and two squads of the Blood Ravens veteran 1st company.

The interior of the senate had been turned into an operations and coordination centre with the walls of the chambers covered with communications and early warning computer consoles. Along with normal operators and technicians were groups of Imperium astropaths, lounging in their chairs against ancient consoles, wires with parchment markers and purity seals connected their implants to the main core of the organisation systems. Several rooms were converted into coordination and radar operating centres with massive holo-tables specially brought in too oversee the entire system including the planets, defence lines and even the clusters of warships.

Alarms sounded from several consoles and every astropath straightened in sudden alertness, their archaic consoles lighting up and sending off alarms along with the Alliance consoles.

"They are here" they shouted in unison "They've come!"

**Sorry this took so long but with the next chapter the Chaos Wars will officially begin with the next chapter, not sure what to call it yet.**


	40. Battle of Bakura: The Coming of the Warp

_**Chapter 39**_

_**The Chaos Wars: **_

_**Battle of Bakura, the Coming of the Warp**_

_"Force be with us"_

**Gabrielle Sabbath upon seeing the Chaos Armada**

**------**

The Bakuran defence forces were split into several battle-groups, each one made out of just over a thousand warships and positioned on the four main defence lines of weapons platforms. Each battle-group was lead by _Executer _Star Dreadnoughts, _Strident _Star Defenders, _Emperor _Battleships, _Retribution _battleships and finally, leading the main battle-group positioned around Bakura like a shell of armour and weapons was the _Blood Raven's_ Battle-barge, surrounded by its taskforce of marine strike cruisers.

As the first wave of chaos warships appeared out of warp tears at the edge of the system the outer defences of missile and weapon platforms opened fire, spraying hundreds of lances of green and crimson energy into the column of armour that was approaching them. From the platforms and capital-ships among the defences squadrons of Alliance starfighters and bombers launched and came at the chaos ships in small clouds.

In response the chaos cruisers launched their own starfighter squadrons, swarms of Switdeaths and Doomfires flew out of the main formations and clashed with the approaching X-wings, A-wings, Tie defenders and Interceptors. Their meeting was immediately christened by dozens of explosion plumes and tiny lines of laserfire. As the fighters engaged each other teams of Tie Scimitar bombers and Y-wings soared past the skirmishes, climbed high and dived down towards the black silhouettes of the chaos escort ships, corkscrewing and banking left and right to avoid the rail gun and laserfire from the escort ships, several bombers were hit and either went corkscrewing out of control, trailing smoke and pieces of fuselage or exploded outright.

Many bombers made it through and launched their payloads of plasma and proton bombs. The bombs hit their mark, piercing through the void shields and exploding against the heavily armoured hulls, creating craters and in some concentrations opening the ships up to space. Four corvettes and two frigates were destroyed and twice as many suffered damage.

The chaos wave continued on unhindered, taking the combined weapons fire and torpedo clusters of several hundred defence platforms and returning fire with dark lance batteries and plasma torpedoes. Massive blooms of fire signalled the death of a defence platform or the destruction of a warship. In the centre of the outer defences was a massive spire shaped space station, armed to the teeth with two beam cannons, fifty heavy turbolaser batteries and over a hundred smaller laser and ion cannons.

Onboard the defence station Commander Colarsk watched as his main crew of operators worked feverishly at their stations, speaking with the wing commanders and captains. The noise of the computer consoles, alarms and people giving out orders was almost deafening.

"The chaos taskforce is down to half strength"

"We've just lost platforms 10, 12, 15, 19 and 20 in the eastern flank!"

"Launch the second starfighter wave!"

"Bombers break for another run!"

"Rear-Admiral Tennets has reported the destruction of the _Mothball _and the _Firefly_"

"Commander the second wave has arrived. I count at least five hundred vessels ranging from gunships to battlecruisers"

Colarsk turned to his holo-table, ignoring the small crowd of strategists around it and hit several buttons on the console, zoomed the hologram towards the warp torn area of space. A column of black silhouettes three time the size of the first wave were rapidly approaching his defensive line, spraying barrages of lance fire into the line of platforms, destroying several more and hitting the space station. The entire superstructure shook violently from the assault and the shields flickered blue, alarms sounded throughout the battle-station, signalling that the shields were reaching critical.

The bombers continued their runs but their numbers were beginning to dwindle against the pure firepower of the second wave. Many were shot down by showers of rail-gun and lasfire. The turbolasers of the platforms and central battle-station continued to fire, destroying several more escorts and clusters of starfighters.

"We're not going to hold" Colarsk said as he shook his head "Order the starfighters and capital-ships to retreat to the second line"

Another series of explosions rocked the battle-station, shattering the shields and pocketing the armoured hull, entire sections became open to space. Masses of equipment and people were spilling through the breaches. The commander found himself mumbling a prayer for each one of them.

A shrill scream made the commander spin around to see one of the operators lying on the floor, blood gushing out of a deep wound in her chest. Looming over her was a truly horrific creature, a mass of purple and pink muscle, blood soaked claws attached to wiry arms and legs and a pair of warped eyes starring mercilessly at the commander. He drew his blaster pistol and fired several shots at the creature, the blaster bolts tearing through its flesh, instead of dying the monster vanished in wisps of red mist.

Keeping his pistol drawn he ran towards the fallen operator just as the Negai female took her last gurgling breath and died. A stream of screams and the sounds of ripping flesh brought his attention to the main crew pit where operators were being torn down by yet more horrific demons, their claws and teeth digging into the operators left and right. Stormtroopers and riflemen spilled into the chamber, pouring blaster bolts into the daemons. They jumped with supernatural grace and started clawing across the transparisteel walls and ceiling of the chamber, diving towards the soldiers and digging into them.

The commander didn't cower as one of the daemons dived at him, he levelled his blaster just as it dived towards him and pulled the trigger, spraying the daemon with crimson bolts and turning it into wisps of red smoke. He turned and was met as a long claw dug into his abdomen, he coughed up blood and levelled his blaster at the ugly mothers face, smiling as the blood trickled down the sides of his mouth.

"I'm taking you with me you ugly Sith-spawning bastard" he said as he pulled the trigger.

------

As the chaos vanguard pushed through the outer line of defences the main fleet appeared at the edge of the system, appearing through several hundred warp tears the black mass of vessels blocked out the stars with their great number. From the command deck of his dreaded _Planet Killer _Abaddon the Despoiler watched with pride as his vanguard fleet made their way past the tattered outer defences, tearing a massive hole in the front line.

The smaller mass of pre-emptive strike vessels were now fast approaching the second line of defences which seemed to be weaker than the first. All that his view-screens could see was a shell of weapon and missile platforms with no larger spherical shaped battle-stations among their number and none of their triangular warships, the second line was going to be easily broken.

As the vanguard approached the second line the platforms opened fire with a powerful barrage of turbolaser, ion and torpedo fire destroying several escort vessels, swarms of starfighters had engaged the fleet and were now dogfighting with their opposites, the space surrounding and within the fleet thick with lasfire and explosion plumes, once or twice a chaos ship would explode from a successful bombing run of an alliance bomber wing but the fleet carried on.

As they came within range of the second line they were immediately assaulted by a sudden increase in the second lines fire. An increase that should have been impossible, as the warmaster strained his eyes to see past the lightshow he noticed distortions within the defensive line, a moment later and a few dozen spherical shaped masses appeared and added their incredible fire with that of the platforms surrounding them. Chaos warships vanished in plumes of fire left and right from the hundred plus added turbolaser batteries. A cruiser received a direct hit to its bridge and started drifting out of the line, trailing smoke and debris.

The chaos warmaster had seen similar methods used before when he fought the Imperium, a few of the corpse emperors followers had used cloaking devices to hide a few of their warships but it had never been done at the scale that it was being used here.

From the command deck of the Alliance flagship, a mammoth _Executer _dreadnought christened as the _Desolator_, newly made Alliance Grand Admiral Daala watched with pride as the _Golan III _defence platforms deactivated their cloaks and opened fire upon the chaos vanguard, dozens of escort corvettes and frigates were incinerated, larger capital-ships were either exploding or drifting, crippled and out of the fight.

She stopped herself from joining her bridge crew in a cheer of triumph, the battle had barely begun. The main mass of chaos warships was approaching, their star blocking mass similar in appearance to a massive monster ready to swallow the entire star system whole.

"Captain signal the battle-group" she ordered to her second in command "We're going to war"

Her battle-group was one of four massive armadas of warships within the Bakura system, tasked to defend it against the forces of chaos. Her force included the _Desolator_, two _Strident-class _star defenders, fifty _Gauntlet-class _star cruisers, two hundred _Imperial-class _star destroyers, two hundred _Liberty-class _Mon Calamari star cruisers and over a thousand escort vessels including _Providence _carriers, _Victory _star destroyers, _Venator _star destroyers, _Nebulon-B _Frigates, _Trident _frigates along with a mass of other frigates, carriers and corvettes.

"Captain prepare torpedoes and fire"

"Yes milady"

Daala waited as her battle-group launched their torpedoes, thousands of small pinpricks were launched towards the chaos armada, seen to both sides as clouds of pin shaped silhouettes. As they closed in upon the chaos fleet several hundred were intercepted by rail-gun and lasfire from the chaos escorts but enough got through to do their job successfully. Instead of exploding on impact with the enemy ships they exploded several kilometres away, spilling out thousands of small probe droids, their sensors upgraded to make them look like starfighters. They flew straight into the mass of chaos warships and the gunners saw them as starfighters on their sensors.

Within moments the outer waves of chaos warships were firing upon each other with rail-gun, laser and lance fire. Escorts were vaporised left and right by mistaken shots from their supposed allies before the chaos sorcerers of the thousand sons were able to get things under control.

By then Daala's battle-group had made a micro-jump, vanishing from their assembly point and reappearing within the Chaos armada, every weapon battery firing continuously the moment they came out of hyperspace. Several alliance ships accidentally collided with chaos warships as they returned to real-space, ramming their counterparts and exploding in deadly hails of fire and debris, either taking their opponents with them or leaving them seriously damaged.

Swarms of starfighters escaped the alliances hulls, providing support for the capital-ships with strafing and bombing runs. Dozens of chaos vessels were destroyed before they could return fire. From the command deck of the _Blood Raven's _battlebarge _Adjacent Fury _Commander Dradus watched as Daala's fleet vanished and reappeared from hyperspace within the chaos armada. Her tactics and strategy was impressive, launching thousands of decoys into the chaos lines and confusing them before launching a quick surprise attack deep within they're fleet formations. Now the alliance was side by side with they're chaos counterparts, pounding each other at point blanc range in an amazing large scale fire fight.

A sudden beam of destructive light shot out from the chaos lines, incinerating everything in and around its path before colliding with the central battle-station, reducing it and the defence platforms around it to they're basic components. From the source of the impressive blast was the fifty kilometre long _Planet Killer_, its powerful Armageddon gun billowing smoke as it continued its advance, most of the armada continuing on with the super-battleship, leaving a sizeable force to deal with Daala's battle-group.

The armada began to spread out, allowing every available weapon to open fire without an allied ship in the way. Escort ships and defence platforms exploded under each others barrage of weapons fire. Growling under his breath Commander Dradus shouted at the bridge serfs, ordering them to signal the Alliance/Imperium battle-group to advance towards the chaos armada.

------

_**Deep Space**_

_**Two hours from Bakura**_

Grand Admiral Joseph Halos sat on the command chair of his new flagship, watching as the operators and bridge crew of his super star destroyer worked at their consoles. He was in charge of a massive battle-group made out of Hapan and Imperial fleet elements, tasked with reinforcing the beleaguered Bakurans and helping them repel the chaos armada.

He had been warned by the Bakuran holo-net that the battle had started five hours ago and at the moment could go either way, obviously whatever the forces of chaos had for intelligence hadn't been able to decipher they're communications yet. Something didn't seem right to the recently appointed grand admiral however, from the information that the Imperium had given them the chaos legions could mass a force ten times the size of the one invading Bakura if they wanted to take the world.

"Something troubles you Grand Admiral?"

"There's no hiding something from you Jedi is there?" Halos asked as he cranked his head to get a better look at the young woman standing beside him. She was draped in brown robes but the hood was down showing a young woman with long flowing black hair and deep blue eyes. Her name was Gabrielle Sabbath, Gabriel's twin sister and a Jedi master herself. She was a fine Jedi with a keen sense of duty and honour but lacked the strategic finesse of her twin brother.

Although he hated the admit it he actually missed Gabriel, the two of them had been friends since the Yuuzhan Vong wars, when the empire officially declared war on the Yuuzhan Vong he found himself with Gabriel as an advisor and confidant. Counting the years they had spent in the Imperium galaxy they had been working together for just about four years and had become good friends over that time.

"If you try to hide it sir it gets easier to see" Gabrielle replied to his sarcastic question with a mischievous smile and a wink. One thing that he liked about Gabrielle was that she had a mischievous and light hearted personality as opposed to her brothers serious demeanour, that made up for the lack of strategic brilliance.

"Is that so…we'll something doesn't feel right about this chaos invasion"

"I agree" she replied "And so does the force. It is whispering to me, trying to warn me of something but I'm not quite sure what"

The sudden blaring of emergency alarms brought both out of their conversation, the lighting of the bridge began to dim and flash red.

"Emergency hyperspace exit" Halos shouted over the deafening roar of alarms "Order the entire group to do the same thing!!!"

"How far away are we from the Bakuran system" Gabrielle shouted as the alarms were shot off.

"Still an hour and a half away ma'am"

As the battle-group of _Imperial _star destroyers and Hapan battle-dragons exited hyperspace they should have been able to see the distant star of Bakura shining brightly in front of them. Instead they saw a massive swarm of Chaos warships, numbering in the tens of thousands from gunships and corvettes to battlecruisers and even several battleships.

"Force be with us" Gabrielle breathed as she starred in awe and terror at the array of destructive power arrayed against them.

"The attack on Bakura was a ploy?" Joseph said in disbelief.

"No, they need Bakura" recently made commander Florn replied, his voice barely controlled "This is just thinking ahead, using a massive portion to take Bakura while the rest slip through at the sides"

"All long range turbolasers open fire" Halos bellowed "Contact Bakura, tell them we won't make it to the party"

"Yes sir"

"And contact central HQ" Halos added "We're going to need every fleet squadron they can muster to contain this!!!"

"We can't take on a fleet of that size" Gabrielle said, her voice barely a whisper.

"I agree" Florn replied as the combined Hapan/Imperial battle-group unleashed a powerful barrage of weapons and torpedo fire upon the surprised Chaos warships, incinerating several dozen escort vessels and cruisers "With this force alone they can take every planet up to the inner-rim before the alliance could stop them"

"Only if they pass our second line" Gabrielle replied, referring to a small line of five worlds located past Bakura, the positioning of the systems made them perfect to make an attempt at both containing the invasion if Bakura fell and counterattacking once the alliance had regrouped.

The small line of worlds included the systems of B'Knos, G'rho, Cattamascar, Gymelo and Kammia. Each world had been heavily fortified with both space and ground defenses in case Bakura did fall and were designed to temporarily halt the chaos advance until help from the coalition arrived.

"Order the battle-group to make a tactical withdrawal to Gymelo" Halos shouted as a portion of Chaos ships broke away from the almost sickeningly huge mass and advanced towards his battle-group "We'll regroup there and offer the second line our services!!!"

------

**Bakura: Eleventh**** hour**

"My lord the plan worked beautifully" Lord Sorcerer Jirvannas said as he approached the warmaster. He was a tall and lean individual, his ancient armour bore the colours and markings of the Thousand Sons with blade-like spikes sticking out of his shoulders, knee caps and elbows, curved blades were attached to his knuckles, specially designed to punch through armour and flesh. His staff was an ancient weapon looking like it was made out of twisted oak with the eight pointed star of chaos crafted at the top. From the eye-visors of his bladed helmet was a pair of blood red eyes which always seemed to shine with the ruinous powers.

"Excellent Jirvannas" Abaddon said as he surveyed the immense battle taking place in front of him. The chaos armada had just broken through the third line of defences and were making their way to the fourth, final and most deadly line of orbital defences surrounding the world known as Bakura. The battle was taking place everywhere, all over the system with their own vessels were well mixed in with the defenders, plumes of explosions and lances of weapons fire were everywhere. Starfighters swarmed around the thousands upon thousands of capital-ships and escorts, either dog-fighting with each other or strafing enemy ships.

A chaos cruiser cracked in two as it was hit by the firepower of four _Imperial _star destroyers, two Mon Calamari cruisers exploded within seconds of each other as they moved to try and intercept the _Planet Killer_, their strong shields no match for the thousand plus lance batteries dotting the immense hull of the monster. He saw massive Imperium battleships and similar sized, sleeker Alliance Dreadnoughts side by side with they're chaos counterparts, blasting each other with their impressive arsenals of port and starboard side weapon batteries.

Defence platforms and battle-stations continually firing their weapons and launching their missiles, destroying dozens of chaos vessels and clusters of starfighters and bombers. The main bulk of the armada was approaching the star systems asteroid field, beyond that was the fourth line and beyond that was the blue and green sphere of Bakura

The chaos warmaster smiled viciously, drawing his daemon sword and testing it with a few experimental swings "Now this is a battle!!!"

------

To a casual observers eye the asteroid field was empty, save for the thousands of asteroids that floated within it. It wasn't empty, hidden within the asteroid field was the small silhouettes of missile frigates, hundreds of the small ships lay hidden within the belt, their engines and running lights dark as to not draw attention. As the chaos armada passed by a few hundred kilometres away the two hundred plus frigates came to life, their running lights coming on and their engines flaring.

They rose out of the asteroid field and opened fire with their full arsenal of proton torpedoes, each frigate living up to its reputation and firing a thousand each. The torpedo screen flew through the void and into the unsuspecting Chaos armada, blasting over a hundred escort and capital-ship sized vessels to pieces and damaging three times that number

As the armada turned to engage the Imperium/Alliance battle-group, lead by the deadly form of the _Adjacent Fury _formed up into a dozen massive spears and plunged head on into the armada. Allowing the missile frigates the chance to escape and rearm themselves at the few dozen orbiting rearming and refuelling stations. Within a few moments the Armageddon gun fired again, destroying several dozen coalition warships before colliding with one of the main battle-stations protecting Bakura, vaporising it along with every orbital platform and warship around it.

A large hole was created in the final line and a full squadron of ten _Slaughter _cruisers soared through it, taking the shots that the surrounding orbital defence platforms were throwing at them and launching their compliments of assault ships and transports. Dozens of orbital strike pods were launched from torpedo tubes on the sides of the cruisers, their compliments of chaos marines and elites screaming for death and destruction.

The battle for Bakura had only just begun!


	41. Raiders & Traitors

_**Chapter 40**_

_**The Chaos Wars:**_

_**Raiders and Traitors**_

_"The empire will hear of this. And they will send our fellow stormtrooper legions to quell this rebellion"_

**Stormtrooper Commander Gin**

**------**

"The main problem with the forces of chaos is that they rarely use such a large force unless they are trying to hide an ulterior motive" Lord Admiral Halcyon said as he sat on a black throne-like chair looking over Supreme Commander Gilad Pallaeon of the GADF, High Jedi Master Corran Horn and Grand Admirals Garm Bel Iblis, Treast Kre'fey and Wedge Antilles "In this case I believe that small taskforces will break away from their armada and start raiding lightly defended planets, hit-and-run attacks against major shipyards and ambushing supply convoys"

"So what your saying sir is that they will also terrorize our territories through piracy and raiding" Antilles said.

"Yes Grand Admiral it is" Halcyon replied "They will also infiltrate your worlds and start up violent cults, slowly rotting your empire from the inside out through bloody rebellions and revolutions…it has been reported that entire armies have turned traitor and entire worlds went rogue far away from the actual offensive"

"So basically we might not be able to move reinforcements around to strengthen the defences in the Spur" Bel Iblis said simply "We may have to mobilise several reserve fleets into the Shiritiku Spur"

"What about you're…clone legions" Halcyon asked, hesitating slightly before speaking their name "Are they ready yet?"

"The Kamino facilities report that a hundred thousand clone units are completed and ready to go with a million more ready within the next three months" Horn said, the Jedi had been recently tasked with preparing the clone legions for battle, since before the war began the Jedi had been asked by the chief of state to become officers once more. They had expected the Jedi to say no because of the clone wars but instead they accepted and many volunteered to become generals and commanders.

"When can we expect your crusade fleet to join the fight Lord Admiral" Grand Admiral Iblis asked.

"The entire fleet has been refitted with our own hyperdrive engines so we should arrive within the next month" Halcyon replied "Until then do you think you Alliance types can hold them off until then?"

"Sir we will do more than hold them off" the Bothan, Treast Kre'fey replied, a feral smile crossing his mouth "We'll have them running scared by the time you Imperium types arrive"

------

B'Knos, the next planet in line from Bakura had fallen, its fleet of defending warships and orbital defence platforms were nothing more than twisted wrecks, floating lifelessly in the space surrounding the planet. The planet itself was nothing more than a shadow of what it once was, areas where major towns and cities once stood where now nothing more than craters, billowing smoke and fire that was clearly visible, even from space.

The chaos armada continued on, numbering in the tens of thousands of warships from 500m long escorts to the 50km long _Planet Killer _which stood out at the head of the fleet. Approaching the planet was a small taskforce of troop ships, escorted by _Infidel-class _Raiders. These troop ships held within their ancient hulls an invasion force made of ten thousand traitor guards and a company of the deadly Word Bearers Legion.

Abaddon the Despoiler, warmaster and leader of the entire chaos armada looked down upon the shattered planet and managed a purely malicious grin which would send a chill up the spine of any man. As he tested the weight of his daemon-sword he craved to stand on the surface of an enemy world and quench both his and his possessed weapons thirst for the blood of their enemies. He stopped himself however, reminding himself that he would get that chance once his armada entered the power centre of the galaxy, the eighteen galactic sectors that made up the Galactic Core, the centre of power in the whole galaxy and therefore the most heavily defended.

There was much to do until then, he had already sent several dozen small taskforces numbering over a hundred ships each out into deep space, their mission was to raid small colony worlds, ambush trading and supply convoys, hit-and-run attacks upon major shipbuilding and trading worlds in the sector and to terrorize the sectors surrounding this one. As well as that they were to travel to worlds that were unhappy with the main power in this galaxy or to worlds easily corrupted to create violent cults and start rebellions, rotting this empire from within and making them easier to conquer.

------

The combined Imperium crusade fleet was a truly terrifying sight, made up of thousands of warships from gunboats and corvettes to destroyers, cruisers and even just over a dozen battleships. Their great number blocked out the stars for the temporary alliance capital world of Denon far below them. As well as this impressive fleet from the main Imperial navy several smaller frigates and destroyers belonged to Inquisition forces including white and grey frigates of the Grey Knights Legion, just over three companies of the Daemon hunters had been assembled. One was to go to the Jedi main academy on Ossus to complete the force-sensitive's training into fighting daemons while the other two were to move with the rest of the fleet to the front lines.

Lord Admiral Halcyon watched his impressive array of cruisers and escorts from the massive view-screen of his own quarters. A lavishly decorated room with a royal red carpet, well sculpted furniture and a swath of display cases showing weapons that his family had collected over the decades from power-weapons to lasguns, plasma guns, bolters and grenade launchers, he even had several alien weapons from successful campaigns including Tau plasma rifles, Dark Eldar splinter weapons and even shuriken weapons from their Craftworld cousins.

The great doors at the other end of his chamber opened and the old form of Admiral Julius stalked into the room, a red and black cape billowing behind him like a shroud as he walked.

"Ah Admiral Julius" Halcyon said as he turned to address the man "Welcome to my quarters"

"Thank you Lord Admiral" Julius replied, his face set like stone and his tone completely professional.

"Please have a seat" he said as he started walking towards the drinks cabinet, a converted display case showing a fine selection of liquors and similar alcoholic drinks.

"Drink" he asked as he opened the case and ran his finger along the tops of the bottles, searching for one in particular.

"Yes thank you my lord" Julius replied, relaxing somewhat in his chair, the lord admiral took out two glasses and a bottle of one of his newest acquisitions. He walked over to the table, set the glasses down and poured the light brown liquid. He then sat down on a red leathered armchair across from the admiral, who chose a couch to sit.

"A toast" he said, raising his glass and smiling as Julius did the same "To the victory of this war and giving those traitorous bastards a bloody nose"

"Here, here" the admiral replied before taking a gulp of his drink "This is quite good but I don't think I've ever tasted it before"

"I'd be surprised if you did" Halcyon replied with a chuckle "Its Corellian Brandy, a specialty of this galaxy"

"Oh" Halcyon replied as he swirled the drink in his hand a few times before taking another sip "Tell me Admiral what do you think of this Alliance?"

"I think you have already been briefed by the Inquisition and the High Lords sir" Julius replied "And I also believe that Lord Inquisitor Silvermaine would be more qualified to answer that question"

"True but I choose to try and keep an open mind, besides" he said, placing his glass on the table and levelling his half mechanical gaze upon the admiral "All I have heard from them is xeno-lovers this, abomination AI that and the opinion that they should be wiped out of existence…I wish to hear an opinion of a man who has actually dealt with the Alliance and I tend not to trust the words of Inquisitors, no matter what they're reputation"

"I think I understand my lord"

"Good, now your opinion"

"Well my opinion of the Alliance is this" he said "They would become a powerful ally and a deadly foe, they control nearly as much territory as we do and their fleets are big enough to rival our own…I would say that one of our only major advantages would be our experience in war" he stopped to inspect the Lord Admiral and try to read his reactions but the mans half mechanical face was set in stone, what he was saying could be regarded as heresy, he had no delusion of that.

"I see" the Lord Admiral replied as he stood up from his chair and made to inspect the weapon cases dotted around his main chamber "That is a good analysis admiral and one that I made myself when I met their military leaders. Did you know that one of their Grand Admirals is from a fairly ugly race of amphibians known as Mon Calamari"

"Yes I did" Julius replied, his tone both flat and dark "And if they expect me to take orders from a xeno then they will have another thing coming"

"That is why we have the right to command our own fleets without Alliance intervention; unless it is an incident of life and death" Halcyon said "It was one of the main agreements that set up this coalition between our two powers"

"I have read the documents of the treaty my lord" Julius said dryly "And even if it was life and death I still won't take orders from a xeno"

------

Blaster fire and explosions echoed in the streets, hover-cars were shot out of the sky by flak and anti-aircraft fire, civilians ran for their lives in the streets and walkways, being mowed down by the advancing troop columns, buildings were assaulted by grenade, rocket, particle beam and artillery fire. Besides the carnage and destruction taking place this was not a planet within the path of the Chaos invasion, it was located within the territories of the Imperial remnant, on a trading world known as Arden III.

Columns of stormtroopers and Imperial regulars, dressed in black carapace armour with scored out markings of the Empire on their shoulder and chest plates marched forward, gunning down civilians with blasters and grenade launchers. AT-AT walkers and scores of old hover-tanks moved along the city streets.

From the top balcony of a lookout spire a stormtrooper commander, dressed completely in his white armour with black markings engraved watched as the smoke and fire slowly rose from the surrounding city, the screams of terrified people echoed everywhere, mixed in with the sounds of blaster fire and explosions. He continued to watch, his helmet showing no emotion as a figure slid out of the shadows, dressed in the armour of a Chaos sorcerer and holding a twisted staff that glowed red with chaos energy.

"Is this to your satisfaction sorcerer" the commander asked, his voice sounding like steel.

"Very much so commander Gin" the sorcerer replied "You and your forces are to be commended"

"The empire will hear of this" Gin replied "And they will send our fellow stormtrooper legions to quell this rebellion"

"Consider the battle to come your final test commander" the sorcerer replied "Kill of your brethren and you and your legion will be considered a legion of the forces of Chaos"

**_I have posted a forum in the Warhammer section about another possible crossover that I am thinking of writing, it is located in the WH, WH40K and Crossovers if anyone's interested. Named Stargate/Warhammer: The Star-Gods._**


	42. The Imperial Civil War

_**Chapter 41**_

_**Chaos Wars:**_

_**The Imperial Civil War**_

_"The Galactic Empire has just recently cut off all communications with both the Imperium and the Alliance, the superior officials at my end are getting very trigger happy about this"_

**Robyn Vallace to Luke Skywalker**

**------**

The Jedi temple of Ossus had changed since before the start of the Chaos wars, its surrounding courtyards and outer perimeter was dotted with dozen of flak cannons, Air-Defence towers, ground to air turbolaser batteries and Ion cannons, the entire region where the temple was located was safely protected by not just a planetary shield but a smaller deflector shield as well. A small flotilla of star destroyers and frigates defended the planet from any threats from space and a full battalion of the Jedi's own newly reborn Antarian Rangers stood guard against any possible threats.

A stream of countermeasures that many prominent Jedi masters thought were unnecessary but the Inquisition/Jedi Order representative, Inquisitor Robyn Vallace had insisted upon it and had also been the one to ask the senate for a reincarnation of the Jedi Orders legendary Antarian Rangers, a small Jedi backed army who were first commissioned during the Sith wars and were known to exist up to the Clone wars where most of their number were lost in the battles of that time, to both fight beside the Jedi as well as acting as their bodyguards and defenders on the battlefield. Once they had been commissioned thousands of applicants from both the civilian populations and the military signed up to protect and fight beside the guardians of the GA.

As Inquisitor Vallace walked down the majestic corridors of the new Jedi temple, exchanging salutes with Antarian Rangers and slight bows with passing by Jedi she had realised that she had come to see this place as like a second home. The temple was as much similar to an academy as it was holy ground with young force-sensitive students and younglings numbering in the hundreds learning the ways of the force from instructors and teachers including diplomacy, lightsabre training, healing, basic force usage, galactic history, piloting and combat strategy.

She was walking down the main learning wing now looking for someone in particular, the founder of this order and the Grand Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker whom she heard from a few Jedi that he was teaching a group of advanced student's lightsabre forms. She found him in a large scale classroom, walking among the children who ranged from human to several different xeno races, wearing large pilot helmets with tainted visors and wielding training lightsabres.

"Feel the force flow through you, ignore all of the distractions and clear your mind" Luke said as he walked among their number, watching as they calmly and precisely intercepted stun bolts from hovering spherical training drones "That's good, your all doing well"

_Master Skywalker_

_Come in Inquisitor _Luke beckoned to her psychically, his attention still on the practising younglings.

_I don't mean to intrude_

_It's quite alright_

Hesitantly the Inquisitor entered the room at a brisk walk and coming up beside the towering, sandy haired Grand master began whispering the reason for her visit "My apologies for the intrusion but I require your opinion about something"

"Such as?"

"The Galactic Empire has just recently cut off all communications with both the Imperium and the Alliance, the superior officials at my end are getting very trigger happy about this" she said as she passed him a datapad, which was showing several streaming reports between Imperial commanders and admirals "I hacked into the Imperial communications system to see what is happening and I don't like it"

"I know" Luke replied before bringing his attention back to his class "May I have your attention for a moment little ones!"

As one the twenty plus students within the classroom turned off their training sabres and moved to take of their helmets, some tucking them under their arms while others simply held them limply in their hands. The Inquisitor was both surprised and worried about the Grand Masters sudden address of the students in the middle of her explaining of such a volatile situation.

_Master Skywalker _she asked telepathically, her psychic voice straining to keep calm _what are you doing?_

Luke turned to her and flashed a lopsided grin before replying to her question, but not through any psychic form of communication.

"Teaching" he replied, drawing a stream of giggles and chuckles from the students, it was only then that the Inquisitor found that the children heard her psychic communication and quickly found her checks taking on a shade of red "It appears that we have a small problem that requires your sharp minds"

_Go on Inquisitor; slot the data chip into the holo-table in the centre_

_Are you sure about this_ Robyn asked _They are only children_

_Who are training to one day become Jedi knights _Luke reminded _and as such need to learn about the affairs and problems of the big, bad galaxy…especially in times like these_

"Now children" Luke began as the Inquisitor slotted the data-chip into the holo-table and pushed several runes allowing a full map of the territories of the Imperial Remnant to appear before them, the eight main sector of the Remnant were blanketed blue with another six sectors which they took from the Yuuzhan Vong during their entering the Yuuzhan Vong wars blanketed green "As you all know this is the Imperial Remnant, a nation located in the Outer-rim and one of the Alliances most prominent and powerful members. I wish for you all to solve a riddle for me, is that alright?"

"Yes master Skywalker" the children all said in unison, their little eyes examining the map very closely.

"Good now from information that Inquisitor Vallace has gathered we have found that several small cases of rioting and rebellions have suddenly sprouted on a dozen planets located on the six galactic sectors that the Remnant took from the Yuuzhan Vong during the last Great War, why do you think this is?"

"Master" one youngling, a red-skinned female Twi'lek who looked barely ten asked, sticking up her hand.

"Yes Sal'aan" Luke said "What do you think?"

"Could these cases of civil unrest be because of unhappy populations" she asked rather timidly "I mean…well…almost everyone knows of the tyranny the Empire put the galaxy through under the Sith emperor"

"That is a good answer Sal'aan" Luke replied much to the Inquisitors surprise "And if it was during a time of peace then I would probably make the same assumption, but as you all know a war has begun between the nations of the Coalition and the Forces of Chaos in the Shiritoku Spur"

"And the empire now is much different than the empire then Sally" another youngling added.

"So maybe these cases of civil unrest and rebellion could be put into motion under the Chaos forces influence" a human boy ventured.

"Well said Cloud"

"Then why doesn't the empire ask for help instead of trying to keep it secret?" a young Zeltron male asked.

"Because it would make them look weak to their allies" another, a human girl with long raven black hair replied with a playful smirk "You can be so naïve at times"

Luke chuckled as the younglings continued to debate before silencing them with a raised palm "Very well done…Now all of you back to your lightsabre practise, I'll be back in a moment"

As the children returned to their practise Luke and Robyn exited through the door and stopped in the lead corridor "Sometimes in order to see through things you need the open minded approach of a learning child" he explained before the Inquisitor could ask the question "And I feel that they are right on the matter, how Chaos agents have gotten that far away from the main battle in such a short span of time I have no idea"

"It has indeed been done quicker than previously thought" Vallace replied "Should I contact the Coalition High Council?"

"I sense that they already now" Luke said "And I also know that with the likes of the Moff Council and the Imperial Admiralty they will want to take care of this on their own" he pondered about this for a moment before turning back to the young woman "But tell them anyway, just to be on the safe side"

------

The Moff council, the ruling body of the Imperial Remnant without an Emperor had been quick to react to the sudden loss of the planet Arden III and after consolidating with Supreme Commander Gilad Pallaeon sent a full superiority fleet, designated _Night Squadron _to retake the trading hub. The squadron was made of ten star destroyers of the _Imperial II-class_, with a small cluster of _Nebulon-B _Frigates and _Tartan-class _Gunboats, all protecting a small cluster of three _Acclaimator-class _Assault ships, within the hulls of the assault ships was a small invasion force made of a full division of five thousand Imperial Regulars, a legion of stormtroopers and a small armoured corps of assault and artillery walkers.

As the fleet exited hyperspace they were immediately brought under fire by the five _Imperial _star destroyers of the Arden Defence forces, the destroyers once light grey hulls were now engraved with black swirling runes and markings. The ships of Night Squadron formed up into a wedge and charged the defending fleet, taking long range turbolaser fire from the traitor ships and ramming through their lines. A _Nebulon-B _took a direct hit to its central walkway, severing it and leaving the bridge and engine compartments floating in space, the front star destroyer took the brunt of the bombardment but with the close proximity of its support ships adding their own shield power to their mothership the shields held.

Once through the star destroyers and their escorts fired every available weapon battery upon the traitor vessels, hundreds of lances of green and ice blue light sliced out from the cluster of warships and collided with the shields of the enemy warships, one by one the shields of the traitor destroyers shattered and their hulls began taking the brunt of the bombardment. One by one they either started to drift out of their tattered formation, trailing smoke and debris or died outright, exploding in an amazing bloom of fire and debris.

With the defensive fleet gone the star destroyers of Night Squadron took up positions orbiting the planet, blockading it and not allowing anything in or out, from the hangers teams of LAAT gunships descended down towards the planet under the protective orbital bombardment of the star destroyers, their mission was to prepare the way for the main force which would land by the kilometre long troop ships.

The gunships, each packed with a squad of specially trained stormtroopers and a Dark Trooper dived into the upper atmosphere of the planet, looking to any groundside surveyors like a hundred small meteors breaking through the flaming atmosphere and punching holes through the clouds. Their target was a large military and aerial base located twenty kilometres away from the planets capital city.

Anti-air fire from AD towers and flak cannons flared, filling the skies with red streams of lasfire and small clouds of destructive black smoke, several LAAT gunships were hit and turned into flaming fireballs of spinning metal and debris. The survivors straightened out and started performing strafing runs on the air base, destroying Tie fighters before they could even get off the ground and silencing Air defence batteries.

They all turned and while some continued their strafing runs others landed in relatively clear areas, unloading their stormtroopers and dark troopers. The monolithic battle-droids activated their jump-packs and flew high into the sky before falling back down to earth, their blast cannons firing continuous streams of blaster bolts, downing traitor stormtroopers and ex-Imperial regulars. This allowed the loyal stormtroopers to charge the bewildered and confused enemy and before long the entire air base was being fought over with traitors and loyalists mixed in everywhere.

The mission was to take the air base as intact as possible; making sure that the main hangers, runways and command structures suffered minimum damage. Within three hours of the battles commencing the base had been successfully wrestling from the traitors hands and in the main landing zone over half a dozen assault ships were landing and releasing their contingents of stormtroopers and more numerous Imperial regulars. The perimeter to the base was heavily fortified with anti-infantry and vehicle gun turrets, pill boxes and hastily put up barbed wire; the remnant had its beachhead.

------

Luke knew that something was wrong the second he walked into his quarters, the very essence of the room seemed to have changed since the last time he was in it that morning, carefully he slowed his stride and unhooked the hilt of his lightsabre from his belt, thanking the force that his son was in the crèche at the other side of the temple.

He took a deep calming breath and centres himself in the currants of the force, expanding his senses and searching the entire length and breadth of the rooms within his chamber. The bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room and even the store where Mara kept her small collection of blasters and melee weapons that she had when she was still hand to the emperor. He found nothing, whoever it was they were hiding their presences very well. He strengthened his connection to the force, feeling out every corner and shadow for any sign of movement.

Sighing he centred himself again and released himself from his force trance, thinking that he was beginning to get paranoid he clipped his lightsabre back to his belt and took a few more calming steps into his home. Suddenly he spun on his heel, releasing a powerful force push. The individual was caught head on and thrown across the breadth of the main room, performing a backward somersault and landing in a crouch, whoever it was his or her features were hidden by a long tattered black cloak, the hood up over its head completely covering its face in shadows. Before Luke could launch another force strike the hooded assailant raised its hand palm up and spoke, its voice feminine.

"Wait please" she braced herself, ready to receive the next force attack from the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order but instead found that the attack never came. She opened her eyes and looked ahead, seeing that Skywalker had indeed stopped his attack and was now watching her, his ice blue eyes cold and calculated.

"I am here by the orders of my master to gain contact with the Grand Master of the Jedi Order" she said and to Luke's surprise she fell down to a knee and bowed deeply as if she was in the presence of royalty "My master wishes to meet with you"

"Really" Luke said as he stepped forward towards the kneeling individual "And who is your master to send someone infiltrating into the temple instead of asking for me personally"

"My master is someone that you know very well Master Skywalker" she replied "Will you accept his invitation for a meeting?"

He, so it wasn't Lumiya or any of her Dark Jedi subordinates "When does your master want me to meet him?"

"Outside of the Korriban system, tomorrow" she replied, still kneeling and head still bowed "He also wishes for Leia Organa, Han Solo, Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker to be in attendance"

The entire living Skywalker/Solo clan Luke realised as he towered over her "Why does he wish to meet my entire family?"

"He will not say" she replied "And he also says that he has information on a woman known as Mara-Jade Skywalker"

This took Luke back completely by surprise, information on his thought deceased wife, at that moment a stirring of hope formed within him, was Mara dead or not and if she wasn't he wanted to know where she was, so he could go and get her. He longed so much to hold her in his arms again, to hear her voice, to feel her skin. He was a lost soul in a massive galaxy without her. He knew that his son missed her just as much if not more, she was one of the most important people in his life and it nearly tore him apart when he asked him where his mommy was.

"What information do you have about my wife?"

"I am sorry master" she replied, sounding like she meant it with every fibre of her being "But he did not share that information with me"

"Very well I will meet with your master" Luke said "But it will be on my terms, understand?"

"He foresaw this and told me to say that he agrees" she replied "You may bring whatever or whomever you wish" she looked up at him and for the first time he saw her eyes, which were a deep, dark brown "Is there anything else that I can do?"

"Yes" Luke replied as he knelt down beside her "Stand up, I am not worthy of such…reverence" She nodded, hesitantly stood up and bowed deeply before turning to leave.

"Wait"

She stopped in her tracks just before she entered the shadows of the chamber and turned back to the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order. His ice blue eyes and tanned face had softened since they had started the conversation. Before Luke knew it she had vanished.

------

The aerial base of Arden III was under heavy assault, columns of black armoured traitors came running towards the recently made loyalist lines, running under the protective fire of AT-AT walkers and older Armoured Assault Tanks (AAT). From the main line of defences anti-infantry and anti-vehicle bunkers fired streams of lasfire at the approaching army, cutting down lines of infantry and punching holes into walkers and tanks.

The skies surrounding the base had blackened not by the arrival of storm clouds or by the setting of the sun but by droves of old Tie fighters and Interceptors, diving down towards the ruined base and assaulting it with strafing runs of lasfire and proton torpedo barrages. The flak cannons and AD towers fired back, flashing crimson as they discharged bolts of energy into the skies, downing Ties left and right before being silenced by a successful strafing run.

Within the command tower Commander Downey of the 5th Division ducked as a trio of Tie fighters did an attack run on the control tower, shattering the windows and peppering control consoles and armoured soldiers with lasfire. He clambered back to his feet, surveyed the wrecked chamber before roughly grabbing the collar of an operator and pulling her within inches of his crimson coloured face.

"Where the hell is _Night Squadron_" he shouted angrily as an explosion ripped through the other side of the chamber, destroying more control consoles and consuming the operators in red fire "We need those Tie wings now!!!"

He unceremoniously threw the operator at the nearest control console and gave her a harsh glare "Contact Commander Tolvin, we need support now!!!"

In space a fresh set of explosions shook the entire superstructure of the star destroyer _Forerunner_, nearly throwing admiral Tolvin out of his captain's chair and almost throwing him out of the bridge deck into the crew pits below. His fleet had been taken completely by surprise by over twenty star destroyers, lead by a massive 8km long warship that he had never seen before, a massive vessel coloured black with hundreds of weapon emplacements and blade like protrusions sticking out of its armoured hull.

As the 8km long behemoth closed in on the remnants of the fleet, with three of the ten star destroyers making up Night Squadron either destroyed or crippled, its main batteries came online and fired, thick long lines of orange light ripped through the black heart of space, colliding with one of the last vanguard star destroyers, shattering its shields and punching massive holes into its hull plating, several moments later the star destroyer exploded, snapping it in two.

Moments after the destroyer was split in two every communications system on the Imperial loyalist fleet crackled to life, holo-screens turned on and the image of an Imperial officer, decked in the olive clothing and knee high black boots of an Imperial Admiral appeared, flanking him on either side were two massive armoured forms of soldiers that everyone had come to know as Chaos Space Marines, the colour of their armour and markings on their shoulder plates showing them as members of the Alpha Legion.

"This is a live broadcast to the Imperial Moff's at Bastion" the admiral stated as he brought himself up to his full height and clasped his hands behind his back "I am Admiral Kesselrig and I and the two fleet squadrons under my command have officially gone rogue. Too long have we served an Empire that has slowly began to rot under the weight of the greedy and arrogant Moff Council, too long have we taken a back seat to the events of the galaxy. As of now I and a quarter of the Imperial Starfleet am declaring a state of civil war within the Imperial Remnant, you can join us or you can die, your decision!"

"Sir that broadcast was posted over the entire holo-net" his second in command said, his face turning white as a sheet "The entire galaxy heard that!"

The Admiral could only slouch in his chair, his eyes starring out into the black void of space that was now filled with the small wedges of twenty _Imperial _star destroyers, all gone rogue, all declaring civil war. A quarter of the Imperial Starfleet was just over ten thousand warships, a force that could completely take the Imperial Remnant if the rest were unable to regroup in time"

"Order the troops on the surface to evacuate immediately" the admiral finally said "We'll hold this position for as long as we can"

On the ground the order was given to evacuate and evacuate the loyalist forces did, initiating tactical withdrawals. The front line was first to retreat, being offered cover fire by the second line, who then withdrew under the cover of the third. Before long every soldier of the 5th Division was retreating through the ruined structures of the air base with traitors hot on their heels, shooting dozens in the back with blaster fire. Tie squadrons came down in droves, peppering the air bases alleyways, killing dozens in continuous, endless attack waves.

Out of the five thousand soldiers making up the loyalist division only an even thousand made it to the assault ships, who were taking a beating from continuous strafing runs, their shields held firm against the barrages however. The Imperials ran up the runways, leaving vital vehicles and equipment behind before the _Acclaimators _took to the skies, their anti-air laser turrets and turbolaser batteries firing furiously at the harassing Tie fighters.

The scene in orbit was not much better, Night Squadron had lost another two star destroyers since the order was given, including the _Forerunner _to a successful barrage of lance fire from the Chaos Grand Cruiser leading the traitor fleet. As the troop ships broke orbit one was caught between three traitor star destroyers, its shields fractured and its hull armour melting under the assault, turning it into a burning comet, plunging back down towards the planets surface. The tattered remnants of Night Squadron began their retreat from the planets orbit and jumped to hyperspace, but not without losing another star destroyer to combined turbolaser fire from the traitors.

The first battle of the Imperial Civil War had officially ended and a victory went to the Chaos backed rebels. The Moff's who were outraged by this betrayal recalled every loyal fleet squadron from the Imperial and Outer-rim territories. The fresh battle-group set to be transferred to the Chaos besieged Shiritoku Spur had been rerouted to Bastion along with several of the newly built _Imperial III-class _star destroyer fleet squadrons. Until this civil war was ended the Imperial Remnant was temporarily out of the war.

Similar rebellions had cropped up all over the galaxy, mostly in the Outer-rim and Colony regions but also further to the heart of the galaxy, smaller rebellions had been reported in the Corporate Sector, the Mid-rim, even in the Hapes Cluster. These were far less organised by the standards of the Imperial codetta and were easily brought under control, but not without rerouting fleets and troops to these trouble spots and slowing down the reinforcements to the Spur which was what the Forces of Chaos wanted.

Now was the time to strike with everything that the Warmaster had, now was the time to push the GADF and their corpse emperor allies all the way back to the core worlds and take the expanse for their own. He ordered that an armada of five thousand warships be gathered at B'Knos and prepare to take Kammia. Little did the Warmaster know was that the Imperium Crusade Fleet would reach the planet much sooner than previously thought, thanks to the Alliance hyperdrives that were installed they would arrive two days before the Chaos armada, thus evening the odds.

But the hyperdrives had not become the mainstay form of travel for the Imperium warships, they had kept their old warp drives as backups in case the hyperdrive systems started to malfunction, this meant that the old coordination systems and astropaths were still in use, working alongside those operating the hyperdrive equipment. Likewise several ships of the fleet, including the flagship _Terran Fury, _Lord Admiral Halcyons own ship which was just commissioned from the Martian shipyards four months ago, being armed with turbolance batteries and Ion cannons as well as the old lance and plasma cannons was a testament to what a hybrid warship of both Alliance and Imperium technology was capable of.

------

"An impressive ship you got here Han" Luke said as he stood on the bridge of the newly out of retirement General Han Solo's command.

"Thanks kid" Han said as he sat rather uncomfortably in his command chair "But I think I'll never get used to sitting in this seat" the now middle-aged ex-Corellian smuggler had found himself once more in a rank of command, being in charge of the first of the New Republic's newest type of warship, named the _Decisive-class _Star Cruiser it was a vessel about 5km in length, its design similar to that of the ancient dagger like shape of the pre-Clone Wars era _Venator-class _star destroyer. The ship was designed primarily as a long range assault cruiser and starfighter carrier.

Along with Luke and Han on the bridge was his sister Leia Organa, who was standing beside her husbands chair, ruffling his greying hair, their children and his niece and nephew, Jaina and Jacen were busy catching up at the side of the star destroyer similar bridge with Tahiri Veila, whom had become as close to family as possible in the last few years.

As well as the _Decisive-class _Star Cruiser, which the ship was given the same name there were three new _Imperial III-class _Star Destroyers flanking them, the next generation of the class the _Imperial III _was 2km in length as opposed to its predecessors 1.6km, armed with new turbolance batteries as well as the standard issue turbolasers, plasma cannons, laser batteries and Ion cannons, plus connected to its spine was the long barrel of a beam cannon, a powerful anti-ship weapon similar to that of a Nova cannon, but not quite as powerful. It was also able to carry just over eight squadrons of starfighters in its hanger from Tie fighters to X-wings, Y-wings, B-wings and the newer V-wings.

Luke knew that this was Han Solo's newly commissioned taskforce, not scheduled for deployment for another month the foursome were planned to be used to ferry and escort the newly combat ready Clone Legions and their Jedi commanding officers across the galaxy.

"Are you sure about this Luke" Leia asked as she came up beside him, her long hair, still dark brown after all these years tied up into a braid and her soft brown eyes scanning her twin brother up and down.

"Whoever it was the messenger said that he had something important to discuss" Luke replied "Plus there is the information he has on Mara"

Leia nodded, she missed Mara just as much as anyone else close to her, the two women had been like sisters since she had married Luke nearly a decade ago and she wanted her alive as much as anyone else, but she knew that the chances of that were slim.

"It could be a trap Luke" she said finally, sighing tiredly as she said it "Something to lure the great Luke Skywalker out here"

"I know it may be a trap" Luke replied as he turned to face her, his mouth curling up into a humorous smile "But we've got four of the newest vessels built by the Alliance, both specially designed to fight against warships three times their size…we should be fine"

A buzz of alarms signalled that they were exiting hyperspace into the Korriban system, everyone ran to their stations while Han started barking orders in his usual gruff manor. The star lines returned to their normal specks of stars as the taskforce exited hyperspace. Korrban's tanned sphere hung in the starry darkness of space, a blatant reminder of the now four thousands years dead Sith Empire that nearly wiped out the Galactic Republic during the Jedi Civil War.

In orbit around the planet was the massive wedge of a Super Star Destroyer, _Executer-class_. As the cameras zoomed into the impressive craft everyone found that it adorned the same post-imperial markings of earlier warships of the type during the Galactic Civil War. Luke recognised it almost immediately; force knew he saw it more than enough during the Civil War. It was the _Executer_, or at least a star dreadnought that looked like it.

The comm. Units came to life with the crackle of static and a holographic form of an individual dressed in black robes which covered his or her entire body appeared before the group. She looked up, illuminating the shadows of her hood only for Luke to see that it was the same Twi'lek force-sensitive who had given the message to him just yesterday.

"My master will arrive to meet with you personally" she said before vanishing.

From the hanger bay of the star dreadnought came a _Lambda-class _Shuttle, flanked by a cluster of four ARC-170 starfighters, the shuttle approached their small taskforce at full sublight, its escorts keeping in a protective diamond formation around it. Sighing Luke turned to his family.

"Well shall we go down and see what this is about?"

"Right with you kid" Han replied as he rose from his captains chair and turned to a young officer dressed in a captains uniform "You have the bridge Captain Rouse"

"I'm right behind you Luke" Leia added as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Count me in too Uncle Luke" Jaina replied, followed closely by both Jacen and Tahiri.

Luke nodded and smiled warmly before turning and leading his family out of the bridge and down towards the main hanger of the impressive Alliance cruiser. Once they got down Luke saw a full military greeting had been prepared for their as of yet still fairly unknown guests with a full company of GA Riflemen standing to attention in neatly kept columns, blaster rifles held tightly against their armoured chests.

The shuttle entered the hanger bay soon after with two of its fighter escorts entering with it. It landed where it was supposed to, its great wings folding up as it hovered into position and performed a near flawless one hundred and eighty degree turn before settling on the metal deck, its rear rampway opened, spewing white gas as it clamped down on the metal decking. First to march down the rampway in two lines was a squad of white armoured stormtroopers with markings of crimson and midnight blue decorated on their shining white armour. Next were two beings dressed in midnight blue robes, shadowing both their forms and their faces, they too stepped to the side.

Then there was the sound of heavy, mechanical breathing and the entire room felt like it chilled by several degrees. The riflemen fidgeted nervously in their column and Luke felt everyone involuntarily reaching for the triggers and activation switches of weapons. He put a stop to that by beginning to walk forward, not breaking his stride as a figure, dressed in familiar black armour with a long black cape draped around his shoulders descended the rampway, the clank of metallic boots making several of the less experienced soldiers in the welcoming columns jump.

He heard gasps of surprise and fear resound through the hanger, everyone from soldiers to officers to pilots had stopped what they were doing to look upon the man who had entered the hanger bay. His own family, Leia in particular looked to be in a state of shock as he stopped a couple of feet away from the armoured form of Darth Vader, the two black robed force-sensitive beings coming in and flanking him.

"Father" Luke greeted, trying not letting his surprise and shock show and failing miserably.

"Luke" Anakin Skywalker replied, his mask completely unreadable "You've grown"


	43. Return of the Chosen

_**Chapter 42**_

_**The Chaos Wars:**_

_**Return of the Chosen**_

"_And yet I'm sitting right here in front of you. Besides with all the other things like other dimensions and daemons becoming more than mere myth why not just add in the revival of the dead"_

**Anakin Skywalker to Leia Organa**

------

The briefing room of the _Decisive _was a large octagonal chamber with its walls made out of dark grey transparisteel and its floors made out of black marble, a large view-port was situated on the far wall showing Korriban and the star dreadnought resting in its orbit. Within the chamber was an octagon shaped briefing table with the small tip of a holo-projector nestled in its centre. Sitting in the eight chairs were Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo, Tahiri Veila and finally the black armoured form of Anakin Skywalker.

"So then" Leia said, her face set in stone "How exactly are you alive?"

"We're not sure" Anakin replied as he took of his helmet, gaining several gasps from those in the room who had never met him before. Luke sat there stunned, instead of the badly burned face that he remembered on the second Death Star there was a man who looked around his age with a ruggedly handsome face, tanned skin and intelligent ice blue eyes, his curly hair reached down to his shoulders and was a dirty blonde "But I believe that it had something to do with the birth of the second eye of terror"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you all know about the galaxy-wide effects that took place after the thing came into being right?" he asked, gaining a collection of nods from everyone around the chamber, including Luke who nodded with a slight grimace, it was the same time that Mara had vanished "How known after-effects included a massive increase in wormholes, daemons appearing across the galaxy and a mass of shockwaves that made every psyker, both of the force and of the warp feel its effects"

"Of course" Leia replied, her face still set in stone but her emotions boiling over like a volcano.

"Well it appears that another result was that the lines between the living and the dead has been shattered" Anakin replied "The dead are returning to life"

"You can't be telling the truth" Leia replied, speechless but defiant "That's impossible!"

"And yet I'm sitting right here in front of you" Anakin pointed out "Besides with all the supposedly impossible phenomena like other dimensions and daemons becoming more than mere myth why not just add in the revival of the dead"

"Anyway the netherworld is under threat from this second eye just as much as the living galaxy" Anakin continued "It's infested the Chaos region of the force like a cancer"

"Chaos region" Jaina repeated "Isn't that a region in the afterlife where all of the evil beings go when they die?"

"Exactly" Anakin replied "Sith Lords, Dark Jedi and others of the like reside there after death"

"Which means that the forces of Chaos now have a foothold in the Chaos region" Luke said, grimacing at the thought "And a pool of dark side talent to draw from"

"Well said Luke" the elder Skywalker replied "And the arrival of an unknown entity has upset the balance of the force. I am here for two reasons, to help you to stem the tide of the Chaos invasion and to look for my fellows"

"Your fellows" Leia asked with a raised eye-brow.

"People have been vanishing from the netherworld without a trace, just vanishing" Anakin replied, his tone both grave and worried "Many of whom were friends of mine in life. I have betrayed them already in my lifetime, I will not betray them again Luke"

"How many of you are there" Han found himself asking.

"At the moment there are two hundred of us" he replied "Along with a number of soldiers and naval personnel. We control a strike force made out of thirty old _Venator _star destroyers, another thirty _Providence _Carriers, three _Eclipse _star dreadnoughts and finally the _Executer_"

"_Eclipses_" Luke asked in disbelief, remembering the 17km long black painted behemoths that smashed through the New Republic Fleets during the latter stages of the Galactic Civil War, one thing that he remembered the most was the superlasers built into their spines "How did you get your hands on those?"

"The Emperor kept several worlds and shipyards in the unknown regions" Anakin explained "These facilities were kept secret to the extent that only myself, Palpatine and the Grand Admiralty knew of their locations. He kept these stores just in case the Yuuzhan Vong managed to break through the combined Imperial Starfleet and spearhead into the Galactic Core"

"You got these ships and weapons from these shipyards" Leia asked.

"Just from one of them actually" Anakin replied, drawing several looks from the others surrounding the chamber "There are several others in the unknown regions, some have weapons and ships that weren't even officially entered into the Imperial Starfleet like several Tie prototypes and a few newer star destroyer, star cruiser and dreadnought models. Plus a few more interesting designs"

Luke was deep in thought, his mind trying to decipher the new information that was delivered to him. The Jedi Orders small numbers may have been bolstered with knights and masters who not only had experience in battle but knowledge of the orders history as well, even though the way their numbers had doubled seemed completely impossible he was taught by both Obi-wan and Yoda that with the force anything was possible. Along with it the possibility of acquiring ship and weapon designs that the emperor, Darth Sidious would have used as a backup against the Yuuzhan Vong armadas if his main fleets and armies couldn't contain them also had promise. It was known that Palpatine knew of the Yuuzhan Vong since before the Clone Wars, hence the reason why the Core and Inner-rim worlds were so heavily defended by clouds of defence platforms and armadas of starships. Something that was considered unorthodox for a handful of rebellious worlds, yet another reason why the Galactic Civil War lasted for just over two decades, from 2BBY all the way to 19ABY.

"Who's among the missing" Luke asked suddenly, when his father didn't answer he leaned closer, gaining several thoughtful glances from his family "Father, who is missing?"

Anakin messaged his temple and brought his ice blue orbs on Luke's similar coloured eyes, those eyes showed worry and sadness that made Luke fear for the worst "A handful of the missing individuals are people whom I would consider family but there is one in particular, Luke…its Obi-wan"

------

The smell of recently spilled blood and rotting flesh forced him out of his state of unconsciousness, having the same effect on him as pneumonia would have. He forced his tired eyes opened and made them focus, the first thing he saw was a solid black floor, caked over with several dry, multicoloured layers of blood. Screams of pain and agony brought him out of his trance, making him wince and involuntarily shiver, the smell of death around him made him sick but all that came up was water.

"Hey" a familiar voice said, her tone weak and hoarse. He forced himself to look up to see a familiar old friend across from him. Her skin was a cerulean blue with two long head tails bobbing down her nearly bare back, she wore nothing but torn and tattered rags that might have been robes and her once unblemished blue skin was covered in bleeding scratches, burns and cuts. What made his heart ache the most were her eyes, once a deep brown and full of life were now dead and practically lifeless. She was hanging almost two meters in the air, held there against the blackstone walls by rusted chains and shackles that were clamped around her wrists. On closer inspection he found himself in the same situation, his wrists shackled and his bare feet dangling a few inches from the floor.

He forced himself to look at the entire chamber, there were others shackled to the walls of the prison cell. Some were dead, their bodies hanging limply against the walls like sick decorations, others were either dying or in the same shape as Aayla with cuts, grazes, burns and bleeding scratches covering their bodies. Some he recognised and breathed a sigh of relief to see them still alive.

"Aayla" Obi-wan managed, feeling his own voice being hoarse but he ignored it and looked at the younger Jedi who he considered one of his oldest friends "Aayla, what happened to you. Are you alright?"

She tried to chuckle at his question, but broke out hacking and coughing instead, coughing up blood which dribbled down the corners of her mouth and dripped from her beautifully sculptured chin. Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight, hero of the Clone Wars and the woman that people were telling stories and creating legends about, even today looked like she had been attacked and toyed with by an enraged Wampa.

"Aayla don't try to talk" Obi-wan said "Put yourself into a healing trance"

"I try Obi-wan" she replied "But every time…every time…I come even close to falling into the trance…they come"

"Who" Obi-wan replied, seeing tears fall down the blood stained checks of his friend, he had never seen Aayla look so frightened before and she had looked the likes of General Grievous in the eye "Aayla" he repeated "Who?"

"Me"

He forced himself to look up at the voices owner, a female creature of a race he had never seen before, her figure was unnaturally slender and her skin was a smooth pink with long dark purple hair and pitch black eyes. Wearing skimpy leathers that wouldn't even be considered a bikini, the coiled up form of a black, bladed whip hanging to her waist and a pair of ragged featherless wings wrapped around her that reminded the Jedi master of a pair of wings from mythical creatures like dragons. She grinned evilly at him, showing rows of dagger like teeth, stained red with blood.

"Welcome to my playground Jedi" she said, her silky, seductive voice making him shudder "Try and last longer than this pitiful creature" she then dropped the dead form of a Rodian Jedi that he didn't know at her feet, blood spilling out of deep wounds and gashes in his chest and face, creating yet another puddle of blood on the already blood soaked floor, she then pointed a long nailed finger at Aayla and smiled "You were so much fun toying with my dear that I think I'll have fun with you again"

The Twi'lek Jedi didn't even struggle anymore; she just had no more energy, no more fight left in her as a pair of truly repulsive, hunchbacked creatures hopped towards her. Obi-wan closed his eyes and searched for the force, found it, revelled in its warmth and comfort before channelling it through him and unleashed it upon the demons heading towards his friend. The force blast hit the closest one head on, sending it flying across the chamber and slamming against the far wall at bone shattering speed. As it slumped to the floor he unleashed another blast of energy at the second daemon, sending it to meet the same fate as its comrade.

Breathing raggedly he regarded the feminine demon at the other end of the chamber with a steady stare, she was surprised for a moment before smiling wickedly, he took that chance to speak "Stop picking on those who can no longer defend themselves. You want someone to toy with…try me!"

Her truly evil grin seemed to get even more evil "Alright mister Jedi. I guess I can have my fun with one of my favourite toys later" she sneered as a pair of heavily armoured warriors passed by her and moved towards Obi-wan. He shivered involuntarily, the smell of blood and death was worse from these two marines than from the very chamber itself.

_Aayla_

_Yes_

_I'll draw her fire for a little while, you put yourself into a healing trance _he strengthened his psychic voice, so that all of the force-sensitive's in the cell could hear him as the warriors roughly undid his shackles and dragged him out of the chamber. _All of you, put yourselves into healing trances. If we're going to escape we need everyone able to at least move._

"Jedi" the female whispered into his ear as he was dragged to her "You have courage, let's see how long that will last. My name is Ra and I am known as a Daemon Princess" she hissed on the S, flicking a snake like tongue into his ear which made him shudder, force what had he gotten himself into this time.

**Short, I know and sorry but it's just a prelude to the next chapter. Pulling away from the war at large for a little while and concentrating on the Jedi, the next chapter will be called, **_**Into the Black Eye. **_**Just wondering did I get the scene for a Chaos stronghold right or was I off, was it evil enough and so on?**


	44. Into the Black Eye

_**Chapter 43**_

_**The Chaos Wars:**_

_**Into the Black Eye**_

"_Now that I have your attention. I think I know what will break you. Obviously you don't care what happens to you as long as those close to you don't suffer…"_

**Daemon Princess Ra to Obi-wan Kenobi**

------

P39-234 was a star system located between Bakura and the cluster that once housed the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium and now the eye of terror. Considered unexplored by the main powers of the galaxy the forces of Chaos had scoured through star systems around they're newly born eye, searching for possible worlds to act as strongholds.

Star system P39-234, renamed _Blight _by Chaos had one such planet, a small world named _Black Eye, _orbited by two small pocketed moons. The landscape of the planet was covered with desert and small mountain ranges. Its orbital defences included several massive blade shaped battle-stations, armed with nova cannons and dark lance batteries and a few dozen orbital defence platforms, the moons themselves were also fortresses with a mass of lance and plasma batteries dotted on their surfaces and the closed openings of hangers spread out along the landscape.

On the main mountain range of the desert world was a palace, dug into the tanned rock, it was made of black-stone with a mass of spires and towers reaching up at least a kilometre into the air, the main building was in the centre, a massive, dome roofed structure that was covered with balconies and turrets.

The balconies, tower tops and turrets of the palace held rail-gun and heavy bolter installations. Anti-air missile launchers and flak guns dotted the ground around the impressive structure, ready to bring death to anyone who decided to come in uninvited. The palace itself was mostly built underground with a labyrinth of corridors and chambers reaching down at least a kilometre deep. Within the upper structure was a mass of great chambers made out of black stone with massive, thick pillars keeping up the high ceiling. Several were hangers for starships to land and take off with a small string of armouries, war rooms and living quarters for the palaces contingent of defenders including a thousand traitor guardsmen and a company of Chaos Space Marines.

Below the surface of the palace was another story, many of the floors were set aside for a prison complex, already full of captured prisoners from both the Alliance and the Imperium including civilians, soldiers, pilots and force-sensitive beings. Further down still was a massive group of chambers, its setup similar to that of the magnificent chambers in the above complex but were instead used for the purpose of torture and death.

Obi-wan Kenobi gritted his teeth, suppressing the need to scream in agony as the daemon princess lashed him again with her bladed whip, laughing maniacally as she did so. He had taken her torture methods for three hours straight, hoping that she would eventually tire of him but she was still as excited as when she started. If she wasn't having him freeze to death in freezer units she was throwing him into pools of molten hot coal. If she wasn't cutting him with her whip and her bladed fingers then she was using a supply of pain inducing drugs. But the most painful torture she used was assaulting him with warp attacks including arc lightning, warp fire and mind attacks that pushed him to the very limits of his sanity.

"I must admit Jedi" she said breathlessly as she coiled up her whip and clipped it to her belt "You have an impressive pain barrier, I have not had such fun since the time when I had the pleasure of a space marine within these walls" she walked up to him and roughly grabbing his chin forced him to look into her pitch black eyes "Now then I now I can't break you by doing something to you…so why don't I try a different method?"

She grinned evilly as painfully bright lights snapped to life, illuminating the entire length, breadth and height of the torture chamber. She forced him to look up and he was truly horrified by what he saw. A dozen Jedi were shackled to the walls, their feet dangling at least ten meters from the hard rock floor with nothing to stand on. He recognised all of them as people who were both his friends and his family. Aayla hanged there, her partially naked form so badly beaten that he felt her losing and regaining consciousness constantly. His love Siri Tachi covered in cuts, burns and bruises all over her skin was in no better condition. Luminara Unduli, her former apprentice Barriss Offee, Quinlan Vos and even the mighty Kit Fisto looked like they were so close to becoming one with the force once again that it brought an ache to Obi-wan's heart.

An ache that turned into uncontrollable rage, no longer caring for the consequences Obi-wan Kenobi channelled the force through him so quickly that when he unleashed it, it took the form of force lightning which slammed into the Daemon Princess head on. She was consumed by its raw power but instead of screaming in pain as the Jedi master had thought she began to gasp and laugh in ecstasy.

"So this is force lightning" she laughed as a bubble formed around her, slowly pushing the burning blue bolts away from her form and with the sudden spreading of her dragon wings the attack dispersed "Not bad but it requires a lot more power before it can even hope to burn me"

She smirked and with a snap of her fingers the shackles keeping Obi-wan on the table opened, a wave of her hand and Obi-wan was telekinetically pulled forward to his feet to within mere centimetres of her face. She grinned at him, before sending him careening across the chamber with a well placed uppercut. Obi-wan landed on his back, feeling pain erupt in his spine and head as he hit the ground. Grunting in pain he started to crawl in an attempt to try and get a hold of the weapons strewn across the walls and cases. She followed him, moving slowly and deliberately like an ambush predator, her whip once again uncoiled and seemingly writhing as if it had a life of its own.

"Go on Kenobi" she whispered seductively as she snapped her whip "Grab a weapon, any weapon" she then swung her whip and lashed him across the back. The small blades adorning the almost unnaturally flexible leather dug into his back and with a pull left several deep gashes, he gritted his teeth as raw pain almost consumed his nerve endings. She hit him with the whip several more times before psychically forcing him to his feet and seemed to just push him, but instead of staggering back he was thrown off of his feet and crashed through a display case, the shattered glass leaving more cuts along his back and shoulders.

The Daemon Princess approached him slowly, slightly hunched over, her face set into a sneer of ecstasy. Obi-wan started fumbling around for something to use against this monster, a stake of wood, a piece of glass, anything. Finally his searching right hand felt something, hard like a rock; he looked at it to find a stone similar in appearance to a gem, a cloudy gold in colour. He grasped it and using the force pushed himself to his feet before spinning on his heel, aiming the rock for her head only to be psychically thrown back several feet, dropping the weapon and landing hard on his back and head.

He felt blood pour down from the back of his head and his vision beginning to blacken, as he began to lose consciousness he thought of his friends, still hanging from the walls of the torture chamber and sent them one final message before the darkness took him.

_I'm sorry_

------

For twenty five thousand years he had been imprisoned within this small gem, imprisoned and forced to watch as time continued to pass him by. He had been forced to watch as the daemon princess who had imprisoned him continued her daemonic practises of torture and pain on her victims in the form of hundreds of tortures, from burning them alive to freezing them alive, from sexual violation to all kinds of humiliation, through tortures using weapons like blades and whips to psychic attacks by her warp abilities.

She knew he was watching and revelled in an eternal audience, besides the masses of poor souls who had been chained to the walls of her torture chambers, forced to witness the horrific acts she had committed and were forced to face the realisation that their own time would eventually come. His only real comfort was that his own children, the force-sensitive beings from his home galaxy were far away from this daemonic sorceress and her fellow warp minded royals.

Now even that comfort was stripped from him when races from his own home galaxy were dragged into the chamber and put through those same tortures. Humans, Twi'leks, Bothans, Zeltrons, Rodians, even his own people were dragged into the chamber and broken through those same daemonic tortures. When a number of those people were force-sensitive then he started to struggle against his chains but to no avail.

After months of being forced to watch these tortures he had felt something that gave him a little bit of hope, a force-sensitive being had been released from his chains for her to have a little bit of extra fun. He tried to fight but was continuously torn down by powerful psychic attacks. Eventually he was thrown through the display case where his prison stone was kept. He saw his chance and took it, he sent suggestions into this human, this Jedi's mind, edging him to touch his prison and he did so.

After twenty five thousand years of imprisonment he heard and felt the strangely comforting sound of a crack appear on the gem imprisoning him, he needed to work fast.

------

The daemon princess approached the fallen form of the defiant Jedi knight, a sneer of contempt on her face, showing her dagger like teeth. In her right hand her daemon whip, _Trafalgar _writhed and flexed in anticipation to taste his blood one more time, letting its wielder know of his impatience with psychic whispers and taunts. She raised her head and let out a hiss, silencing her impatient weapon. She then flicked her wrist and the whips bladed leather morphed and formed into the long blade of an ancient sword. The blade itself covered in black runes of an ancient and extinct order. Only the daemon within the blade, and a wielder that it felt was worthy knew what it meant and Ra had proven her worth hundreds of years ago.

In a quick move that the mortal's eyes could not follow she surged forward and thrust her newly formed blade, slicing into the Jedi's left shoulder, straight through. The human let out a strangled, short cry before gritting his teeth against the pain, she grinned again, almost innocently if it wasn't for her sharp teeth.

"Now that I have your attention" she said "I think I know what will break you. Obviously you don't care what happens to you as long as those close to you don't suffer…"

She then pulled her sword out of the humans shoulder and casually walked over to one of the prisoners hanging against the wall; one who Obi-wan immediately realised was the bloodied form of Aayla Secura. With a simple lunge she plunged the blade into her shoulder, cutting a few inches into her cerulean skin and forcing it out by sliding, allowing the blade to cause more damage, the Twi'lek cried and screamed in absolute agony.

"Do you know what Trafalgar's special ability is" Ra asked uncaringly as she turned her back on the Twi'lek and walked slowly back to Obi-wan "Oh it's not as grand as some of the others but it suits me fine. You see the blade itself emits a kind of warped poison which turns the blood within a nicked vein black before sealing it, I choose not to infect you with it" she grinned evilly as she explained "The poison spreads through the veins, tainting the blood with it. It's like having molten lava run through your veins and when the poison reaches her heart it will stop…and she will die"

As if to symbolise her meaning Obi-wan saw the wound that the princess inflicted on Aayla seal up with extraordinary precision and before long the snaking lines of black veins became visible on her skin, starting off as just and dot and slowly beginning to spread out. Immediately Aayla began to moan in pain, her weakened state unable to let her cry out. Beside her the blond haired form of Siri Tachi started to struggle against her chains, her emerald eyes alive with anger at the daemon princess.

Ra simply ignored her and grabbing Obi-wan by his neck forced him to his feet and slammed him against the black stone wall. A flick of her wrist and her weapon returned to its original whip form.

"I will make you and all those present watch" she whispered seductively into his ear "And if this one's death doesn't break you then I will chose another and another until you finally do succumb"

A flash of orange light blinded everyone in the chamber and Ra was suddenly raised and thrown across the chamber with such force that it drove her through the meter thick black stone wall at the far side. An orange fog had appeared in the centre of the chamber, the force coming and going at new levels more powerful than anything that Obi-wan and his fellows had ever felt.

"After twenty five thousand years I live again" a voice roared from the dissipating fog "Ra I have a very large bone to pick with you!"

As if on cue Ra jumped out of the massive hole she had made in the black stone and fell on all fours, claws on her hands and feet retracting, her long bladed tail whipping too and froe, mirroring her sudden anger and ferocity. She growled, her pitch black eyes narrowing and her mouth set in a feral snarl, showing her dagger like teeth and forked tongue.

"What's the matter" the being still hidden in the fog asked "No smart remarks, no witty comeback…I was actually looking forward to that"

"I should have known that little crystal couldn't hold you forever" she then rose to her feet, her daemon-sword flying through the air and catching it with her bladed claws, her forked tongue licked her lips, wiping away the trickle of blood dripping from the sides of her mouth "No matter I'll just do what I should have done at Tython…slice the great immortal…the watcher from head to toe!"

The smoke finally cleared showing the slender form of a near-human with tanned skin and short white hair, wearing the long brown robes of the ancient Jedi Order. A staff, about a metre and a half in length and seemingly made out of wood with no markings on it was leaning against his right shoulder and the hilt of a lightsabre clipped to a black belt. Obi-wan immediately recognised the man as an Arkanian, a race of near-humans who resided on Arkania, an important trading planet in the colonies.

"I am the Watcher" the Arkanian said, his voice a ghostly whisper "I am one of the first Jedi in history and Ra. I will be your death!" He surged forward, his long staff swinging in his hands as he ran and brought it down upon the daemon princess with almost unnatural speed. The daemon was just able to bring her sword up to bat the seemingly fragile staff only to find that it did not snap on contact with the daemon-sword.

"Ah so you managed to save your own possessed weapon" Ra smirked as she vanished and reappeared behind him only to have it blocked "What was it you called it…Nexus?"

"Yes that is his name" the watcher stated before vanishing in a blur of motion, reappearing above the princess and assaulting her with a flurry of strikes with the tip of his staff, she either dodged them or deflected them with her own possessed sword and with a flick of her wrist turned it into a whip, swinging it and wrapping the leather around the head of the staff. She then unleashed a blast of warp fire upon the Jedi immortal.

Obi-wan Kenobi leaned against the side of a black stone wall, watching the impressive fight taking place in front of him. He had to use the force to keep up with their quick movements. The daemon princess kept coming with her daemonic sword, attacking the 'Jedi Immortal' with flurries of plunges and strikes that were so fast that they were basically a blur to his eyes, even when they were strengthened by the force. The Watcher as he was called not only deflected and dodged the attacks but returned them in kind with equally quick swings, jabs and strikes with his staff which seemed to simply take the punishment from the daemon-sword and not even suffer a chip.

Suddenly feeling adrenaline pump into his body he pushed his bruised and battered body to its feet and willed it to work as he ran towards the chained up forms of Aayla and Siri. The Twi'lek's infection had begun to spread with several black veins stretching out from her left shoulder, she was moaning and groaning in pain. First he put a sleep suggestion on her to shelter her from the pain before using the force to open her shackles, she caught her as she fell and slowly placed her leaning against the black stone wall before moving to free Siri Tachi.

"Can you move Siri?" he asked as he used the force to open her shackles and helped her to a stand.

Before she could answer the monolithic doors that connected the torture chamber to the outside swung open and a trio of mutated beings, dressed in dark red carapace armour and hefting lasguns aimed for the Arkanian. Without thinking both Obi-wan and Siri released a duo of powerful force-pushes that sent the three Traitor Guards flying through the air and smashing against the wall at bone crunching speeds.

Immediately they reached out through the force and called a handful of displayed weapons to them, the targeted weapons flew off of the walls and ended up in their outstretched hands. Obi-wan gained a duo of curved swords while Siri caught the long barrel of a Dark Eldar splinter rifle. The two immediately jumped into action as another six Traitor Guards ran into the chamber. Obi-wan force-jumped at them, stabbing one of them in the chest and spinning around him, decapitating a second and, pulling the blade out of the first, somersaulted over the second and brought the two blades in from the left and right, cutting the third soldier into three pieces. By then Siri had found out how to work the splinter rifle and the blonde haired Jedi squeezed the trigger unleashing a volley of miniscule white shards upon the remaining three, mowing them down with incredible speed and precision. The whole conflict took about four seconds from start to finish.

Meanwhile the Watcher got a shot at the daemon princess with his staff, jabbing her right in the stomach and making her stagger backwards, her guard lulled he began assaulting her with a flurry of jabs, all hitting their marks on her stomach, chest and shoulders before finishing off with a swing aimed for the side of her head, the wooden staff hit her, making her spin in midair and land in a heap.

She jumped back to her feet, roaring in anger and attacking with her daemon-sword set in its whip form, attacking with swings and swipes, the bladed leather tearing gashes in the close by wall and stone floor in an attempt to hit the nimble Jedi Immortal. The watcher started to dance and spin, dodging the potentially fatal swipes and lashes from the daemon princesses possessed sword/whip. He flicked his wrist and suddenly he showed that his staff was not even a staff but a wooden hilted sword kept in an equally wooden sheath, he dropped the sheath to the stone floor and began muttering something that sounded like an incantation under his breath.

"Nexus…Jedi Guardian of old, I ask for your strength for this moment" the blade of the recently unsheathed sword began to glow blue with the powers of an ancient force-sensitive warrior as he continued to dance around the daemons suddenly sporadic attacks "Strike!"

He lunged forward and swung his sword with everything he had before landing in a roll and coming up in a crouch. His sword held firmly in his two hands. For a moment all was silent except for the sudden plop of blood as it dripped from the reddened blade of his sword. Then a long gash appeared on the daemon princess's body, running from the top of her right breast to her left side, reddish black blood spilled out of the slash, dropping as pools on the stone floor. A sudden swipe from the watchers sword took of her head.

Calmly he turned his back on the corpse of Ra and picking up the scabbard for his sword sheathed the weapon before releasing the Jedi around him with a snap of his fingers. They all fell to the floor and landed in a crouch, some perfectly while others, weakened from the tortures that the late daemon princess put them through staggered. Immediately Jedi healers Barriss Offee and Luminara Undali ran to Aayla's side. Checking the Twi'lek's pulse and scanning her with the force while the others grabbed weapons and headed for the door.

"Her pulse is erratic" Barriss muttered before placing a hand to her friend's forehead "By the force she's burning up"

"I'm not surprised" the Watcher said as he fell into a crouch beside them "Those are symptoms of such a warped poison"

"I've never seen anything like this before" Luminara said as she raised her hands and checked the Twi'lek female through the force "But its definitely a type of poison that travels through the blood stream, moving via the veins to internal organs and shutting them down"

"A decent hypothesise" the Arkanian Immortal replied calmly "But slightly wrong with the end result, it doesn't just shut down the organs, it rots them from the inside out"

"Sithspit" Barriss cursed as she looked down at her tattered clothing "If I only had my equipment or a little bit more rest I could do something!"

"That will not be necessary" the watcher replied as he put a four fingered hand on Aayla's shoulder, where the source of the infection originated "Ill remove this at its source" There was a flash of soft light which emanated from the watchers hand and seemed to spread onto Aayla's skin, following the black trails of the tainted veins. The two Jedi healers had never felt anything quite like it before and studied him curiously. They had used the force to heal seriously wounded individuals before but never to such an extent as the Arkanian was showing them now.

A few moments later he removed his hand from Aayla's shoulder to show that the black veins had vanished and the wound had completely closed, not even leaving any evidence that it was there in the first place. The immortal stood up, leaving the surprised healers to tend to their fellow before walking up to the five Jedi who were securing the massive doors to the chamber, armed with an array of lasguns and other alien weapons.

"You" the watcher said, pointing to Obi-wan Kenobi "I take it that you are the highest ranking Jedi of this little band?"

"I am"

"Good" the watcher replied "We need to get out of here"

"How do you suppose we do that?" Obi-wan replied.

"Use your imagination master Kenobi" the Arkanian replied, a smirk on his face "Lets free the other prisoners and start a mass riot. There's got to be at least five or six thousand people trapped within this prison"

"A good idea" Obi-wan said with a raised eyebrow "But do you know where the control room that keeps the doors locked or if they are even automated?"

"Actually I do" the watcher replied "But that's not important, I can open the prison doors from here"

"How"

"Has a Jedi's imagination simply ceased to be while I was away?" the watcher asked with a smirk as he snapped his fingers "There's no need to find the locks, if you have the force anything is possible"

Before Obi-wan could reply he heard the muffled sounds of lasfire, explosions and amassed screams from above him, he had to reach out with the force to get a good idea on what was happening. The prisoners had been freed and had just overrun the guards, taking their weapons and using them to force their way further out of the prison to the facilities above ground.

"Now then" the Arkanian said with a smile on his face "Shall we go?"

------

The hanger of the daemon palace was in complete chaos as red carapace armoured traitor guards and chaos marines formed up in a skirmish line across the several hundred meter long circumference of the chamber, firing their bolters and lasguns upon the charging prisoners. Literarily thousands of people of dozens of different races were running into the chamber, some hefting lasguns and oversized bolters while others were armed with pistols, iron bars, rocks and sticks. Dozens of people were mowed down by the chaos skirmish line before the prisoners reached it and subsequently overran it, beating the remaining soldiers to bloody corpses with their weapons.

Most of the palace had been overrun by the released prisoners who looted the armouries and living quarters of the main structures, grabbing everything that could be considered a weapon and killing any mutated chaos spawn that they found. Without the guidance of their precious daemon princess her troopers didn't know what to do and their counterattack was sporadic and scattered with only the few chaos marine squads mounting any kind of successful defence.

By the time the Jedi, beaten and battered entered the hanger the fight was over and the surviving prisoners were forcing their way aboard the myriad of starships assembled in the hanger, Many were captured private starships and freighters and Alliance ships like Corellian Corvettes, Skipray gunboats even the massive form of a 600m long _Dreadnought-class _Heavy Cruiser. As well as this there was a small line of chaos ships, mostly small frigates and destroyers.

"We need a ship" the Arkanian muttered as he surveyed the array of vessels set out before them "Something strong enough to withstand the ground defences and break orbit"

"I would recommend that Heavy Cruiser" Obi-wan said as he and Barriss half carried Aayla towards the starship "It's big and fast enough to take the anti-air fire and get off world"

"What about crew?"

"Look around you" Obi-wan gestured "Most of these people are soldiers and pilots, more than enough for a crew"

Quickly the Jedi boarded the 600m long cruiser along with several hundred soldiers and pilots, both Imperium and Alliance. While the wounded were placed in a suddenly overcrowded medical wing the physically able ran to the vital stations of the ship, weapon batteries, engine compartments and the bridge were swarming with people reporting to stations and preparing the small cruiser for lift off. The Jedi entered the bridge, safely leaving Aayla Secura in the medical wing along with revived Jedi healers Barriss Offee and Luminara Undali who immediately began treating the wounded.

"Who's in charge here" Obi-wan said in a hoarse voice, drawing the attention of all of the bridge crew. Many starred at him in shock and some began muttering amongst themselves, all knew of the exploits of 'deceased' Jedi master Obi-wan Kenobi.

"That would be me" a tall and well muscled man, his rugged face covered with scars and appeared to be set in a sneer "I am Commissar Sanders of the 16th Cadian Regiment…who in the name of the emperor are you?"

"I am-"

"Obi-wan Kenobi" a Zeltron female, covered in bruises gasped "The Negotiator"

"What are you blabbering about xeno" the Commissar growled, seemingly more happy with shooting her than listening to her.

"He is Obi-wan Kenobi" a human man said, standing in front of the Zeltron, both to speak to the commissar and to shield the weakened girl from him "A thought deceased Jedi master from the Clone Wars era and he outranks you Commissar"

"Really" the Commissar growled, his eyes full of murderous intent.

"Yes and considering that I am a commander in the Alliance" he said as he turned to Kenobi, a genuine smile on his face "Congratulations Kenobi, you've just been brought out of retirement. We await your orders General Kenobi"

"Fire up her engines" Kenobi said as he was lead to the captain's chair "We're leaving this hell!"

With a stuttering growl the cruisers ancient engines came to life and she hovered into the air, ready to shot out of the gapping hanger doors. Already dozens of smaller ships, packed with escaping prisoners were lifting off and flying out of the hanger. As the dreadnought moved forward anti-air fire spurted into the red sky, turning an ascending YT-600 freighter into a ball of fire. The cruiser exited the hanger and immediately was assaulted by ground to air missiles and rail-gun fire, her shields flaring blue as they absorbed the barrage. Smaller ships from freighters to transports and shuttles flew out with her and were also assaulted by the same ground defences. The shields of a _Lambda-class _Imperial shuttle failed and the small ship was hit by a plasma missile, causing it to explode into a dozen pieces. A 300m long _Star Galleon-class _frigate suffered a dead hit by a groundside lance battery, its shields shattered and its hull punctured before it fell to the ground like a stone, secondary fires appearing all over its hull.

A quarter of the surviving craft were destroyed before they could break orbit and the _Dreadnought _cruiser's shields were down to forty percent. What was in front of the escaping ships was terrifying, a string of three massive blade shaped battle-stations stood in their way, dark lance batteries and missile launchers aiming for the small cluster of freighters and carriers. They fired, sending long lances of thick orange light at the ascending ships. A blockade runner took several lance hits to its stern, causing the entire back half of the corvette to explode. A YT-1300 freighter took a direct lance hit, causing the small disk shaped craft to vanish in a blaze of orange light.

"Frontal turbolasers fire at will" Obi-wan shouted as the entire superstructure shook violently, consoles began to short circuit and explode as they overloaded, sending those crew members manning them falling backwards with burns and electrocutions.

"Shields are down to twenty percent" a Rodian crewman shouted "They're not going to hold!"

Obi-wan slumped into his chair, the activity and controlled chaos taking place around him seemingly moving in slow motion. The Watcher, Siri Tachi and Quinlan Vos were standing in the centre of the medium sized bridge, their hands outstretched, trying to divert several lance beams away from the ship, sweat dripping from their brows as they poured all of their will into the force. Dozens of lances suddenly bent and flew wide of the Dreadnought and the small array of ships surrounding her, but one by one the others fell to the barrage until only ten of the fifty escaping craft remained space worthy. The rest nothing more than burning husks drifting in orbit. Lives winked out of existence in the thousands, men and women who were once Imperial Guards, Stormtroopers, pilots, medical personnel and many other civilians were dying and the psychic assault threatened to overrun the revived Jedi master's weakened mental defences.

Unless a miracle happened nobody would make it out of her alive, this massacre would simply be forgotten until a lone smuggler or explorer discovers it a few hundred years later.

That miracle took form as a trio of long, thin green lances struck the three space stations, puncturing straight through them and causing a series of explosions which slowly overran their armoured hulls like a blanket of fire. A trio of massive explosions marked the deaths of the three battle-stations and aftershocks destroyed half of the orbital defence platforms surrounding them.

Obi-wan starred at the destruction in surprise and awe, wondering if the force had really answered his silent prayers. He found that he was half right as three massive, dagger-like silhouettes, at least 17km long each, their hulls painted black and bristling with turbolaser batteries decloaked in front of the small string of escapee vessels. A few seconds later another star dreadnought which he recognised as an _Executer-class _also decloaked right in front of the escapee fleet.

The comm. Units of the Dreadnought cruiser crackled to life and a hologram showing a man which he considered his brother appeared before him, dressed in the armour of his Sith alter ego except for the helmet which showed his rugged features, dirty blonde hair and ice blue eyes.

"Obi-wan" Anakin chided playfully "Why do I always have to save you?"


	45. The Beginning

_**Chapter 44**_

_**The Chaos War:**_

_**The Beginning**_

The Imperial palace was a truly magnificent sight. It was hybrid in design having aspects of both a cathedral and a palace with the main structures reaching up at least two kilometres into the sky. It was at least ten kilometres in diameter and surrounded with spires and towers which, believe it or not ranged from reaching up a simple hundred meters to the very tip of the planets atmosphere. At the tops of these towers were weapon platforms ranging from simple rail-guns and plasma turrets to lance batteries and nova cannons.

The Imperial palace was the centre piece of the Imperium of Man. It was where the High Lords of Terra resided, where the emperors most trusted guardians, the Custodes lived and finally where the emperor himself was situated. In the very heart of the massive palace was a smaller fortress, its main entrance was a set of double doors, made of thick stone and heavily inscribed with ancient runes and hieroglyphs, the doors reached a kilometre up, to the point where a mere mortal would not be able to see its top.

The walls were made out of thick adamantium giving them a silver shine which never seemed to dull, stone gargoyles were situated on precipices and turrets, their cruel, bottomless eyes and mouths seemingly looking down upon the space below. These statues were not just there for show. Automatically controlled stubber machine guns were hidden within their pit like eyes and mouths, ready to spew out death to whoever approached uninvited.

Within this small fortress was the emperors own golden throne, a life support machine created for the soul purpose of keeping the God-Emperor of humanity alive and able to continue his watch over the Imperium that he had created. Surrounding the throne room were massive, impressive chambers, the walls were made out of solid grey stone with thick stone pillars keeping up the kilometre high ceiling. A mass of paintings, tapestries and sculptures decorated the walls, showing people who were considered the greatest of heroes during the time of the great crusade and great battles which had been burned into the minds of those who looked upon them.

The Primarchs, both loyal and traitor stood, decked in their magnificent power armours and holding their weapons in salute which included power-swords, axes, staffs, modified bolters and so on. However while those primarchs who remained loyal stood proud and tall, those primarchs whom turned their back on the emperor were kneeling, as if begging forgiveness from the man who was basically their own father.

The fortress was under heavy guard, not by any mortal man but by the most deadly defences imaginable. The automated defences were controlled by the emperor's psychic powers and a full squad of golden armoured titans stood guard at all of the entrance points, unmoving and unyielding, their deadly heavy bolter cannons and main beam cannons swivelling too and froe, forever scanning the chamber they were assigned to for any threat. As if to add to the defences the main stone doors could only be opened by the super brute strength of the titans.

The emperors powers were growing in strength, sections of this central fortress which had been dark for centuries were beginning to come back to life once again, lights flickered to existence and weapon batteries suddenly whirring to life. Eventually he will be able to control the defences of the entire fortress itself. The bacta was doing its job and doing it well. In the months since the healing liquid had been received he had felt himself slowly recovering from the near fatal wounds that he received from his son Horus.

But the recovery was still slow, his cells regenerating and his organs being revived by the bluish liquid. It would still be possibly years, maybe even decades before he could walk on his own again. Then there were the problems that he would have to address once he was physically able again, there would be religious fanatics and extremists who would not believe that the Immortal emperor would just suddenly walk out of the golden throne after ten thousand years of near death.

He needed people to suddenly shout out that the emperor lives again, the people needed to know that he would return so as not to cause the mass panic and hysteria that he knew would probably occur if he suddenly got up and walked out of the Imperial palace. He needed agents to spread the word, he would call upon the High Lords for such a task but many of them had become so complacent and corrupt in their places of power that they would much rather keep him where he was.

------

The Fabricator General sat in his throne room, deep beneath the massive Imperial palace. The walls of his private chamber were the colour of rust with sums and numbers etched into their structure, pillars kept up the high ceiling and a mass of computer consoles and monitors were scattered everywhere. Cables lined the stone floor, leading to consoles and plugs in the walls, sparking and sputtering in some places where they threatened to overload.

The lord of the Adeptus Mechanicus sat on his rust coloured throne, his beard like cables attached to a mass of plugs on consoles surrounding his throne. The mechanical forms of at least ten Tech-Guard were scattered across the chamber, standing watch over their lord. The fabricator was going over an insane amount of information, all of the latest reports concerning his orders strongholds across the galaxy, all of the forge-worlds and mechanicus fortress planets scattered across the Imperium were flashing before his eyes, coming and going at the blink of an eye. For any normal human being it would be nearly impossible to read all of the chunks of information streaming across the generals eyes but to him it was just an average days worth of reading.

His forge-worlds were progressing as expected. Their manufacturing lines were working at full potential, creating thousands of weapons and hundreds of warships from gunships to corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers as well as mass producing arms and ammunition. At the chief forge-world of Mars three new _Emperor-class _battleships were under construction and his finest Tech-Priests were looking over the new Alliance technologies, finding new and innovative ways for them to be used. A basic galactic holo-communications system was being created from the Alliances holo-net technology, specially designed by his Tech-priests and Magi to be able to allow communications across the entire Imperium. The new faster-than-light travel was being installed as a primary within several new battlecruisers, being used as a primary with the old warp drive kept as a backup. Eventually it would only be matter of time before the Imperium regained the advantage against her enemies.

Finally the last of the reports was read and the Fabricator General detached his beard like tentacles from the plugs and his goggle-like, augmented eyes flickered to life, scanning every inch of the central chamber of the Fabricator General's throne room. With a rustle of his robes he stood up and stalked down the chamber towards the great rusty red coloured double doors.

There was a flash of white light and the Fabricator General found himself no longer standing within the rust coloured chambers of his own private sanctum, he looked behind himself to see his Tech-Guard were no longer behind him. Instead of rust coloured walls there was walls made of pure grey stone, detailed tapestries hung from the walls and statues stood either tall and proud or kneeling and seeking forgiveness. To his surprise he found that these statues were the sculptures of the Primarchs. Both loyal and traitor and a score of others from the era of the great crusade, the ones who remained loyal during that time stood tall and proud, their weapons held high while the traitors kneeled as if in penance, begging for forgiveness.

The sudden sound of whirring mechanics made the Fabricator spin around, what he saw both terrified and awed him. Towering at least thirty meters above him was the incredible, humanoid form of a Titan, its armour a pristine gold with a mass of silver hieroglyphs and runes etched into the shinning armour. The behemoth looked down at him and the pitch black eyes suddenly lit up with blue light, scanning the massive corridor in front of it for any threat. The Fabricator felt fear as he watched the incredible product of Imperium engineering scan the chamber with its powerful motion and infrared sensors, the massive beam cannons built into its arms whirring, chambering a shell that could tear the gun turret off of a Runeblade super-tank with a single shot, which had proven at Lorn V that it could completely destroy a Necron Monolith with a single round. Even the impressive Alliance AT-AT walkers would be humbled by this monster of human mechanics.

Finally its incredible sensors fell upon him, blinding even his highly modified augmented vision with blue light, at that moment he felt that he was going to join the side of the machine god and the holy emperor and began muttering prayers of purity to both, tracing the sign of an aquila across his armoured chest. The Titan kept its optical sensors upon him for a moment before raising its incredible hand, but not to aim at the High Lord. Instead it turned towards the door and placing its monolithic hands against the double doors pushed, forcing the great, kilometre tall stone entrance open. Dust seemed to explode from the tops of the ancient doors as the Titan pushed, fluttering down to the stone floor below as if it were grey snow.

As the Titan finished it turned around and continued its eternal vigil, completed ignoring the armour robed figure standing in front of him. The Fabricator simply stood there, frozen in place, fascinated by the massive, golden armoured Titan. His augmented eyes recording the impressive, perfect specimen of what his ancestors of the Martian forge-world used to be able to mass produce.

_Enter Fabricator _a voice whispered softly into his mind. _You will get the opportunity to study this guardian soon enough._

"Who's there" the General said, his hands drifting to the pistol attached to his belt as he passed the monolithic Titan and entered the chamber he was just granted access to. His eyes settled on a massive machine made out of gold armour plating, a mass of cables and tubes were attached to the machines armoured shell, pumping blue fluid into its centre. A massive view-screen was at its centre showing that the tank was full of bluish liquid and within this machine with a mass of tubes attached to his arms and legs and a breath mask over his face was what looked like a man. He opened his eyes which shone with incredible power, power which would humble even a plus Apex level psyker.

_I have many names Fabricator but you know me best as the Emperor_

"My Lord" the Fabricator said as he fell to his knees, augmented eyes downcast and his right hand immediately tracing the sign of an aquila across his chest, he muttered ancient passages from the emperors holy books, his internal hard drives bringing them up in his mind.

_Rise Fabricator _the emperor's psychic voice whispered into his ear, soft yet carrying with it the power that was beyond even the Generals imagination. _It appears that this Alliance bacta is doing what they promised it would do, already I can feel my wounds begin to heal and my power begin to return._

"My lord this is excellent news" the General proclaimed.

_Yes it is Fabricator _the Emperor replied. _However I have awakened to find that the Imperium that I had built on my own and humanities blood and tears has become the very thing that I did not want it to become. In the ten thousand years since I have been imprisoned in this throne the Imperium has become a dictatorship the likes of which this galaxy has never seen before, xenophobia, dictatorship, mass genocide, arrogance, greed, lust for power and unprecedented destruction._

"My apologies my lord Omnissiah" the fabricator replied, bringing his head further down into an even deeper bow.

_Rise Fabricator, you are not to be blamed for your predecessors acts _the emperor repeated and this time the High Lord rose to his feet. _There is much work that needs to be done before I show myself to the rest of the Imperium. People will need to be informed of my return so as not to cause mass panic._

"Yes my lord" the high lord replied "What is thy bidding"

_I will inform the Master Inquisitor of my return and have him begin preparations as such _the emperor began. _While the Inquisition has become a complete opposite of what I had originally planned for it, it may still be of some use before I return and begin reforms. Until then fabricator I wish you to spread the word of my return wherever you can, the news will spread and people will begin to believe that I will return._

"Of course my lord Omnissiah" the general replied humbly.

"Now go" the Emperor said. The first solid words he had uttered since their meeting. Before the high lord of the Adeptus Mechanicus knew it he was standing within the vast chambers of his own domain once again.

------

Deep beneath the surfaces of the red desserts of Mars were ancient storage chambers, these chambers held within their old, rusted and cobwebbed walls a mass of secrets and treasures, these halls held ancient and powerful weapons and technologies. It was this reason, along with the fact that Mars was the capital of the Adeptus Mechanicus which made it such a holy world to them.

One such chamber however was different from the others, its walls were as black as night with a mass of runes and hieroglyphs, glowing with a soft green light covering them. In the very centre of this chamber whose floor was made of black stone stood a coffin, made of a strange metal which gleamed in the darkness, black runes and hieroglyphs covered it, their meaning lost to any humans who gazed upon them.

The large double doors, made from the same shinning metal as the coffin itself opened with a loud creak and a group of twelve Tech-Priests. Dressed in their armour and wearing cloaks of silver stalked into the chamber, holding their staffs in their hands, their augmented eyes shinning red in the low light. They were here for a simple reason, the emperor was awakening from his ten thousand year slumber and they could not allow his reign to begin again. If it did it would be the end of the Imperium as they know it, the end of the Adeptus Mechanicus as they know it.

The emperor was reviving, he was awakening, and with it his strength was growing. He was getting stronger each and every day. The psykers from those under the Inquisition and the Imperial Guard to the chaplains and librarians of the space marine chapters felt him get stronger and stronger through the warp and were already preaching and prophesising of their lord's return.

They needed to act. They didn't have any other choice. With each day they wait the emperor grows in strength and power, soon he would be able to leave the golden throne altogether and a new age would dawn on the Imperium as a whole. An age where they would be found and weeded out, where the faction of the machine cult would be uncovered and destroyed, in order for them to survive their lord had to be awakened.

They stood in a circle around the rune encrusted coffin, their staffs tapping against the stone floor, the bangs echoing across the chamber. Their augmented eyes shinning red and their augmented mouths muttering ancient incantations and spells in the machine language, they continued to chant, their voices slowly rising in volume until it was a steady noise, rising above the constant bangs of their staffs hitting against the ground.

The runes of the coffin began to slowly glow brighter and brighter, in a final act the Tech-priests took a unified step forward and lowering their staffs forced their tips into plugs located on the coffins sides before turning them in their places. Slowly the top of the casket began to creak open and a pair of eerie green eyes shinned out of the darkness. The machine god has awakened.

**A present for the Warhammer fans out there. Hope you guys enjoyed that little part with the Titan and I hope I got his design right. Never really read much on Titans, the only Titan I have ever seen was the half destroyed one in the Warhammer game winter assault, so I pretty much based the description on that.**


	46. Darklings, Lightlings & Jedi: Part I

_**Chapter 45**_

_**Darklings, Lightlings & Jedi**_

_**Part I**_

Within the farthest reaches of deep space the Eldar Craftworld of Siam-Hann roared through the darkness, the world sized vessels mighty engines carrying it across the very fabric of space at maximum impulse speed, far away from any enemy stronghold be it Ork, Chaos, Necron, Tyranid or even Imperium. Small fleet squadrons of Eldar warships flew around her, looking like insects in comparison, their own engines easily keeping up with their fleeting mothership.

The interior structure of the Craftworld was similar to that of any starship, only hundreds, maybe even thousands times the size. The ship, the product of the very best of Eldar engineering was created for the purpose of its inhabitants, the last remaining survivors of an ancient world of an even more ancient empire to live on and sustain themselves. Imperial records speculated that these giants held millions of Eldar but in reality it held within its monolithic hull billions of beings, perhaps more. The interior of the vessels superstructure was made up of thousands of levels, some simple decks, others made to hold a city, or a forest. Something that reminded the inhabitants of their home world, even when you think you are at the top of the Craftworld it was very possible that there was a deck above you.

The Craftworlds basic design was similar to that of a planet, a massive spherical shaped vessel, whose hull was made from a bewitching, almost magical material called wraithbone. Several key settlements, mainly cities and forests were situated within massive domes upon the Craftworlds otherwise pristine and flat red and white surface.

It had been nine months since the outbreak of the Chaos wars upon the Beta Galaxy (After the Imperium and the Alliance made contact with each other they agreed upon names for their own galaxies. The Imperial's was known as Alpha while the Alliances were known as Beta). Or so Mara-Jade Skywalker thought.

She lay on what she thought was a hospital bed, lying on her side looking at the tiny sleeping form of her daughter and smiling weakly to herself, she did not know how long she was doing this, could be minutes or even hours. She didn't know and she didn't care, all that mattered at this moment was her daughter, the tiny little baby who just a few hours ago had been nestled pretty comfortably in her womb.

Since that meeting with Farseer Leda Stormwind nine months ago she had been through some ordeals, both welcome and trying. Five minutes after they had first meet she had known that Mara was pregnant, two seconds later she had decided that she should stay in the Farseer's palace until she found a way home. A decision that was not agreed upon by both the Seer council and the exarches of the sacred temples, even the warp spider exarch, Psicosis had been unsure of this decision. But here the Farseers decision was law and had to be obeyed, so, begrudgingly they had agreed to this but had watched Mara ever since, trying to look for the slightest excuse.

Mara to her credit didn't give them one. She had remained inside the Farseers palace, under constant watch by a squad of elite guardians wherever she went. She remained silent and cooperative the whole nine months of her stay so far, with the only real trouble happening when her water broke. The Eldar healers had never dealt with a human pregnancy before and so were complete amateurs to the practise, but were happy to find that a Mon-Keigh pregnancy was not that much different from one of their own, so the conception had gone smoothly. And know here she was, the Eldar healers ordering her to take it easy for a few weeks until she had recovered her strength.

"I have never seen a human newborn before" a soft voice said from beside her bed, Mara rolled over to see the slender form of Farseer Stormwind. Sitting in a chair in her traditional seer robes, her long black hair stretched down her back to make a pool of black upon the pristine white floor "Very cute"

"Yes she is" Mara replied with a blissful, yet weak smile curling her lips.

"Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Eliza Jade Skywalker" Mara said "A name that I and my husband agreed upon if it was a girl"

"Oh" Leda replied as she scanned the sleeping baby with her ruby red eyes "A good name…Mara the Seer council wishes to meet with you when you have recovered"

"Why do they want to meet with me know" Mara asked, her face turning serious as she slowly sat up "What ever happened to them never allowing a Mon-Keigh to sully their domain?"

"Maybe your good behaviour has changed their minds" Leda replied sarcastically, something that she had gained from her constant visits to Jedi Master Mara-Jade Skywalker "Or perhaps they're looking for the reason as to how you got here in the first place"

"I thought I already explained it to them a half dozen times" Mara replied "And they didn't believe me, so why would they suddenly change their minds now" the sudden sound of low sobbing brought the two women's attention to little Elisa, whom had awoken and started to cry softly. Mara picked up her daughter and cradled her in her arms, within a few moments the baby had quietened down and fallen asleep again.

"Well they did explain that nobody has ever survived a warp tear before" Leda pointed out.

"Yet you believe me"

"I felt that you weren't lying" Leda conceded "But the others did not, do not forget that out of the entire Seer council I am the only one who is force sensitive, and I am only so advanced in part to your help and lessons. The others only know the warp and it is nowhere near as subtle as the force when sensing emotions"

"Agreed, so when do they wish to see me" Mara asked.

"Whenever you have fully recovered" Leda answered "Which was a decision I made them accept"

------

The Craftworld continued to travel across the galaxy through the webway gates, its massive armoured structure shinning blue against the walls of rippling blue light of the webway portal. Small fleet squadrons of Eldar vessels followed her from _Hemlock _and _Nightshade-class _destroyers to _Eclipse _and _Shadow-class _cruisers, there was even a duo of _Void Striker-class _Heavy Cruisers taking the lead.

Little did the inhabitants of the Craftworld know that they would be put through some of their greatest trials since their ancestors first took to the space ways many millennia ago. Two trials which could mean either the Siam-Hann's future or destruction, the first trial was a large fleet of five hundred Dark Eldar corsairs following them at a distance, just outside of the monolithic crafts motion detectors. The second trial was a wormhole, straight in the Craftworlds path, completely invisible to its sensors and early warning systems.

However this passageway to another place was completely unknown to both the Craftworld and the Dark Eldar raiders who were following her. At the head of the raiders was Archon Blackblade, onboard his flagship, the _Darkness-class _battleship _Crimson Agony_. The very bridge was dark save for the small flashes and low lights of the control consoles and sensors, it stank of death and dried blood with three heads stuck on pikes just above the command deck, one of a human commander, another of an Ork warboss and a third of a Tau commander, their expressions precisely the same as they were when they died, in horror and agony.

"Alert all commands" the Archon muttered as he lounged in his black command chair, watching the Craftworld on the long range view screens "Accelerate to maximum attack speed and fire on my mark!"

He felt the sudden increase in G-force as the _Crimson Agony _accelerated to her maximum speed, the entire structure groaning as if it where a beast preparing to charge. The Archon smiled, revelling in the rush of adrenaline that came before a major battle. His leader, Lady Lilith had wished for Seers, why she wanted the accursed lightlings he did not know, but he knew never to question the ladies orders. The last one who did was laid out in display before her chambers, his head stuck on a steel pike for all to see.

"Defences?"

"Four fleet squadrons my lord" his tactical officer "Mostly destroyers and frigates but also a few _Void Strikers _and _Shadows _among them"

He knew that this would be a costly battle, a Dark Eldar raiding fleet had not engaged a Craftworld head on for as long as he could remember. The only real records of war on a lightling Craftworld was when Lilith's own forces had infiltrated Ulthwe almost a hundred years ago. He already had a small army infiltrated in the Craftworld, hiding in the shadows of the monolithic vessels depths, where they wouldn't be found until they struck.

The Dark Eldar ships had caught up on their lightling cousins by know, the massive Craftworld easily dwarfing his vessels starboard view screens, his own battlehip now shadowing a _Shadow _cruiser, safely hidden away within the protective blanket of its shadow fields.

"Target the bridge" he ordered and watched as the order was relayed before turning his attention back to the dorsal section of the enemy ship, his eyes alight with feral passion and ecstasy as he gave the order "Fire"

------

The _Crimson Agony _decloaked and opened fire on its surprised prey, its first dark lance salvo hitting the unshielded bridge and turning it into a smouldering wreck. The _Shadow _was sent into an out of control spin, exploding against the webway portal walls. Similarly the other cruisers and corsairs of his fleet decloaked and opened fire upon the Eldar warships, destroying many escorts and pickets before the defences of the Craftworld and the surviving escorts realised what was happening.

Hundreds of lance batteries and other weapons dotting the Craftworlds magnificent hull aimed and fired upon the swarming black mass of darkling raiders, aiming for the big _Darkness _battleships and _Torture _cruisers. The darkling vessels began executing sharp and near impossible twists, corkscrews and turns. Even the battleships moved like they were fleeting gunships, dodging much of the defensive fire and diving down towards the now shielded hull, peppering it with weapon salvoes from their point weapon systems.

The great hanger doors of the monolithic craft opened and a swarm of _Phantom-class _starfighters and a small cluster of capital-ships flew out at near impossible speeds, executing the same starfighter like manoeuvres as they're darker kin. The reinforcements were mostly made up of the sleek, dragon like forms of _Solaris-class _cruisers and _Wraith-class _battlecruisers, all lead by a trio of _Void Strikers_.

Several dozen corsairs and cruisers broke off from their harassment of the Craftworld and engaged the reinforcements, corkscrewing, diving and passing by each other in mass dances of death and destruction. Performing incredible feet's of manoeuvrability and unleashing point salvoes of lance and dark lance fire upon each other.

Like a blur of motion the _Crimson Agony _and a small unit of corsairs made a run for the already closing hanger bay doors. Dodging the cannon and main weapons fire as best they can, the defensive fire was just too thick though and corsairs began exploding left and right, by the end of it only the battleship managed to break into the hanger. Firing its thrusters to slow it down, it unleashed a concentrated salvo of splinter fire upon the Eldar warriors assembling in the hanger, mowing down dozens of Guardians and Aspect warriors before coming to a stop and setting down on the charred wraithbone floor.

The large hatch opened with a hiss, kicking up white steam, and through the mist came hundreds of Dark Eldar warriors, dressed in their bladed and slender armour which was coloured in purples and blacks, wielding an array of splinter weapons and blades they charged the recovering Eldar Guardians. The red and white armoured guardians aimed their shuriken catapults and fired, spraying the approaching Dark Eldar with little white shards of energy.

From the hatches came squads of Ravagers, taking to the skies with their black feathered wings, they were followed by Hellions, Dark Eldar elite warriors riding on hover boards and wielding double-edged blades in their hands. Archon Blackblade then ran down the ramp of his battleship, Punisher blade in one hand, splinter pistol in the other and a murderous grin tugging at his lips. A unit of elite incubi and mandrakes followed him, their own eyes alight with ravenous and feral passion.

He threw his punisher, embedding the blade into the abdomen of a lightling guardian and downing another with his pistol as he ran. He grabbed the hilt of his sword as he passed, yanking it out of its victim with a sickening slice and a spurt of light red blood. Today was going to be a day that would run with the blood of the lightlings. Already he felt his kin who were hidden in the bowls of the Craftworld, there by a few warp torn portals that were made within the mammoth vessel jump into action. Moving towards the upper levels of the Craftworld, their targets where anywhere where a Seer would be.

Little did the Eldar and their dark kin know that the wormhole was fast approaching and they were so occupied by the sudden battle that none of those based on long range sensors saw its approach, even the seers and farseers of the Craftworld didn't see it or what was awaiting them at the other side.

------

Anakin Skywalker stood in his personal quarters, gazing out intently at the stars that seemed to stretch for an eternity. They were know far away from that prison planet where they found the mass of POW's and twenty Jedi, several of whom he knew and considered friends in his past life, before he became the black armoured form that tormented the galaxy for two decades and whom was responsible, either directly or indirectly with their deaths.

It was this very fact that he felt so ashamed, so ashamed that he was too afraid to look them in the eye, he was afraid that they would hate him, although he wouldn't blame them if they did. He had checked on their progress though. Out of all the prisoners it was Obi-wan and Aayla who were hurt the most, obviously they had become the favourite toys to that daemonic bitch. Obi-wans wounds were mostly physical with cuts, slashes and bruices, he had been burned, frozen and force knew what else, but he would make a full recovery in a few months. It was Aayla who was hurt the most, burned, frozen, beaten, violated in both the mind and the body, then there was that poison that the daemon had cut into her veins. Her recovery would be slow and painful, but with her master, Quinlan Vos and her best friend Kit Fisto right beside her he was confident that she would recover. He would be there as well if she would forgive him. If it wasn't for the actions of the Jedi Immortal known as the watcher he was sure that the battle would have been harder and the death toll greater.

The others weren't so badly hurt with cuts, slices and bruises. The roster of the twenty surviving Jedi included Obi-wan Kenobi, Siri Tachi, Aayla Secura, Quinlan Vos, Kit Fisto, Barriss Offee and Luminara Undali, all from his era, all whom he knew. The rest were Jedi that reported themselves as alive during the thousand years ago Sith wars. The watcher was further back still, from an era before the Force Wars nearly twenty five thousand years ago. His power was on pare with Anakin's and he also had a lot more experience and knowledge of the galaxy, knowledge and experience that could be put to good use in the war against the forces of Chaos.

The door to his quarters hissed open and a being walked into the chamber. Anakin didn't turn to see who it was, he already knew and he also knew that this conversation would have come up sooner or later. His daughter, Leia Organa stood defiantly at the other side of the room. She reminded him so much of his love Padme, who was out there in the galaxy, with a Jedi whom he would trust with his life, secretly spying on the Inquisition of the Imperium. He did not know where she was but knew that she could look after herself.

"I hated you" Leia began "After the death star destroyed Alderaan so long ago I hated you with every fibre of my being"

"Yes I thought you would have Leia" Anakin replied as he turned around and walked over to her "And I don't blame you for hating me now or back then. I did horrible things, unforgivable things, things that will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my days" he then sat down on an arm chair and gestured her to do the same, which she hesitantly did so, sitting down on another arm chair across from him.

"Why did you do it?" she asked almost desperately.

"Because like you I didn't know that you were my daughter or that Luke was my son" Anakin replied "I was a broken man Leia, a man with nothing to lose, a man who's only remaining ties to the real world was a monster and a tyrant" she didn't answer him so he continued "I was in love Leia, and I was so afraid to lose her that I would have walked to the lowest of the nine hells and back just to get a glimpse of her angelic face again. Palpatine knew of this and used it against me, twisting a beautiful thing through implanted nightmares of me losing both her and you at childbirth. He used that to make me turn on those I called brothers and sisters, butchering them with the false hope that I could save her"

Leia saw the sadness in her father's eyes and knew that he was telling her the absolute truth. She should hate him with everything she had. Here was the man who was present when Alderaan was torched, a man who mercilessly hunted the Rebellion and murdered many of her fellows, here was the man responsible for cutting of her twin brother's hand, the man who stole Han from her and imprisoned him in carbonite. She found then that the man whom she hated was not Anakin Skywalker but Darth Vader, a Sith lord who had been dead for nearly thirty years. But she couldn't forgive him yet, that would take time.

"I ended up causing her death instead of stopping it" Anakin continued "She died not of any physical wounds but of a broken heart, she had lost her will to live when she saw me and found what I had done. When it was over I had killed everyone important to me, my friends and family lay dead at my feet, my master had been forced into exile by my misplaced hatred and above it all was Sidious, cackling"

"I think I understand why you did it" Leia answered after a few moments of tense silence "But I can't forgive you because of this, I can't"

"And I don't want you to" Anakin replied "I don't want you to give me your forgiveness Leia, I want to earn it. I know that we could never have a father/daughter relationship but as long as I earn your forgiveness and all those that I have hurt then I will finally feel at peace"

"My mother" Leia said suddenly "Did she return with you?"

"Yes she did" Anakin replied, a smile spreading across his face as he remembered his angels smile "But I don't know where she is yet"

A sudden spark through the force snapped the two out of their conversation. They both jumped out of their chairs and starred out of the view port at the sudden blue disk of light that had just appeared in the once tranquil space several million kilometres away from his fleet.

"A wormhole" Leia gasped "Here"

"Something's coming through" Anakin muttered as he expanded his force awareness through the entire solar system.

"What?" Leia asked, her training in the force no where near as advanced as her father.

"Something big…"

As if on cue a massive vessel, dwarfing anything that Anakin had ever seen before rippled through the wormhole, this thing dwarfed Centerpoint, dwarfed the Death Star, and even dwarfed most life sustaining planets. The spherical shaped craft was massive, covered with crevices, holding bubble shaped domes with large towers representing cities or forests within. The white and red armoured hull dotted with weapon batteries which were even now spewing death and destruction. The areas of space surrounding the world sized craft were a flurry of lasfire and explosions, a major battle was taking place around her and the fighting was fierce.

As the sudden battle progressed Anakin and Leia had made their way to the _Executers _Bridge where Luke, Han, the twins and Tahiri were already. The main view screens of the SSD had zoomed in as far as they could possibly go, showing vessels ranging from 200m to 4km in length firing upon each other and pulling of manoeuvres that were impossible for any similar sized ship within their own arsenal to do. Fighters darted among them, moving even faster and manoeuvring quicker than their own could even hope to copy.

"Eldar" Luke muttered "I've heard of them from Grand Admiral Halo's reports, including detailed sketches of the few ship designs that he saw" his eyes suddenly widened as if he had just seen a ghost in the depths of space "Mara…Mara's on that ship!"

"Are you sure Luke" Anakin asked as he stepped beside his son.

"I am positive father" Luke replied "Can't you feel her presence through the force?"

Anakin closed his eyes and reached out with the force, using his brief knowledge of Mara-Jades force signature to look for her. Eventually he located her signature, but it was different from what he remembered, far older, wiser and more mature than he could have ever guessed.

"Try to contact that Craftworld" Anakin shouted "Tell them who we are and if they require assistance"

------

Mara's eyes suddenly flickered open, something was wrong here. The force which was usually so quiet within the craft was now giving her firm whispers of warning. She was slightly confused by this, it was only as she summoned the force to revitalise her and wiped the gum from her eyes that she made a startling discovery. The entire wing of the palace was dead silent and she saw that the usually bewitching and pristine wraithbone walls of her room and the corridors beyond, which were once fluorescent light colours had know darkened, as if an unwelcome entity had entered.

She sat up and got out of her hospital bed, her emerald eyes carefully surveying the dark room. When she was happy nothing was there she went to a small control pad in the wall and inputted a password into the alien runes. A small section of the wall opened up and a drawer slid silently out holding a pair of pants, a tunic, her old Jedi cloak, a pair of black high heeled boots and her lightsabre. She put them on and, checking to see if her daughter was sleeping peacefully walked over to the door.

Even after nine months of causing next to no trouble whatsoever the Seer council had seen in their 'wisdom' to keep her away from any of the local population. Placing her in a room where the door, several inches of thick wraithbone, was sealed by a five digit password. Luckily enough Mara had seen the door opened plenty of times and knew the password to it. She inputted the password and in the blink of an eye the thick door slid up out of sight revealing a corridor that should have been bright with alien fluorescent lights, instead it was dim and dark.

She stepped out of the room and turning back, inputted another five digit password into the pad, closing the door and sealing the room which held her child, protecting little Eliza from any threat from the outside. She began creeping through the unnaturally dark corridors of the palace, her presence cloaked and her senses on high alert.

Eventually she entered a corridor and the stench of blood filled her nostrils, making her feel queasy. The light was so low here that it was nearly impossible to see, even with her eyes imbued with the force. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, bringing an orange flame to life. Mara-Jade had lived through two major galaxy spanning wars and had seen her fair share of carnage, but this dwarfed even that. Light red blood was slick on the walls and floor of the corridor, bodies of Eldar lay dead either lying on the floor, cut to pieces or hanging off the walls, crucified and left to die.

This was monstrous, this was barbaric, this was a type of insanity and cruelty that not even the Yuuzhan Vong or even the Sith would dare go. Words, written from blood were etched onto the walls, she couldn't read them, but their meaning was clear, most likely taunts, warnings or threats. Gulping down the bile forming in her throat Mara forced herself onward, eventually dousing the flame hovering above her hand and trusting in the force to warn her of any obstacles.

She heard a weak cough and immediately reignited the flame, hanging from the far wall, with twisted daggers plunged through her hands was an Eldar nurse. Her once long black hair tinged red with the blood of herself and her fellows, blood flowed from cuts on her entire body, especially a long cut across her abdomen, making a pool of blood on the floor and staining her white tunic like clothing red. Immediately Mara ran over to her, quickly pulling out the daggers keeping her crucified and laying her to rest against the wall. She gasped in agony, her unnaturally green eyes glazed over.

"Who did this?" Mara asked, loud enough so that the dying girl could hear her, she was no medic but she knew that she could do nothing for the woman.

"The dark…kin" she responded weakly, her voice barely a whisper "Dark Eldar…they took…us by surprise…butchering the guardians…then us"

Dark Eldar, Farseer Stormwind had told Mara about them, and from what they heard they were pure evil in the most basic sense. They were what Chaos was to the Imperium, what Sith was to Jedi, malicious and cruel beings who found another way of escaping the fall, a way through the blood and torture of countless innocent victims.

"Seers…" the woman muttered "They wanted…seers…they laughed…about acquiring seers for some mass…sacrifice…to appease some new Chaos…god"

"The farseer" Mara realised, if the Dark Eldar had taken such a huge risk of attacking the stronghold of their Craftworld cousins then they would take the strongest they could possibly find. The Eldar female grabbed Mara's collar and pulled her down to face her eyes, now aflame with passion.

"Protect her…don't let them…take her" with that her grip loosened, her eyes went dead and she was no more. Mara reached out with her hand and closed the dead nurses eyes, she then searched the dead woman for her soul stone, found it, tore it from around her neck and put it in one of her satchels. She would give it to a seer once this fight was done. Force knew what the Dark Eldar would do if they found a soul stone.

With that she stood, let the flame burning a few centimetres above her hand die and cloaked her presence once again. Her memory of the palaces layout was no where near absolute but she did know the central block well enough. That was where the seers would most likely be, the only problem was getting there.

------

"We've just been given permission to engage my lord" the middle aged admiral said.

"Thank you Admiral Piett" Anakin replied. Jedi were not the only beings who were brought back to life by the force, a swath of fallen war heroes from both the Clone Wars, Galactic Civil War and Yuuzhan Vong Wars had come with them, including Admiral Piett, the last commanding officer of the SSD _Executer _who died with his ship as it plunged into the second death star. Now both the _Executer _and its valiant commander were back and ready for a fight.

"Order the _Eclipses _to charge their superlasers and take aim for the three biggest ships they can find" Anakin continued as he surveyed the battle that his fleet were about to charge head on into.

"There's about five hundred enemy ships out there" Luke said "And only about ninety of us"

"We've got the firepower and the durability" Anakin replied "If we advance in a dense cluster we may be able to pick them off as they come"

The three _Eclipses _then fired their superlasers, three long lances of green light streamed out into the fabric of space, catching three of the Dark Eldar's battleships head on and reducing them to their basic atoms, aftershocks followed, either destroying or crippling the support ships around them. As one the fleet vanished from view and reappeared within the massive battle, their main batteries unleashing a deadly volley, catching the Dark Eldar completely by surprise and letting the Craftworld Eldar regroup.

Such a risky manoeuvre through hyperspace did have its loses on the Jedi fleet however with a _Providence _carrier crashing head on into a corsair escort, destroying the Dark Eldar ship and seriously damaging the carrier. An old _Venator _star destroyer plunged into a _Torture _cruiser and the two vessels exploded in a massive ball of fire and debris. The _Executer _immediately took the lead of the fleet, her several thousand plus weapon batteries spewing out a destructive barrage of death upon the Dark Eldar ships.

The Dark Eldar ships immediately recovered and dived towards the new enemy, their incredibly nimble craft moving like ships a tenth of their size, dodging the lances of turbolaser fire and retaliating with their own splinter cannons and dark lance batteries. A star destroyer lost its main bridge tower and began to drift out of the battle line, the enemy craft continuing to pour weapons fire unto her even when its shields died and its hull was punctured.

It was only then that the angered Eldar of the Siam-Hann fleet regrouped and counterattacked with such ferocity and cunning that the Jedi's harassers were forced to break off their attack. It was only then that the Dark Eldar saw their mistake, in their eagerness to strike at the new fleet they forgot about their Craftworld kin and were now caught between two forces that moved in on them like a pair of pincers.

The Dark Eldar panicked and began to scatter, their still two hundred plus fleet making a run against the blockade and retreating to open space. Out of those two hundred another fifty was lost to combined fire. The remaining hundred and fifty vessels however broke past the blockading fleet and vanished as they activated their faster-than-light engines.

"That's the fleet down" Anakin muttered before turning to his son "Luke gather a team of Jedi and assemble at the hanger, go in on the _Millennium Falcon _and rescue your wife"

Luke didn't need to be told twice. He immediately spun around and moved out of the bridge with Han, Jaina, Jacen and Tahiri following close behind. Anakin had already gathered another six Jedi knights and twenty armed guards at the hanger bay where they would assist Luke in getting on the Craftworld and retrieving his wife, these Jedi were professionals who knew infiltration well.

------

Mara jumped to the side, missing the thrusting bayonet of a splinter rifles and swung with her emerald bladed lightsabre, cutting the darkling in half at the waist. She then jumped high into the air and somersaulted, missing a barrage of splinter fire by millimetres. She hit the ground in a roll and coming up in a crouch unleashed a powerful force push which sent another two Dark Eldar warriors flying over the railing and down to the ground floor several dozen meters below.

She was breathing heavily by know and felt exhausted, being inactive for the better part of six months was beginning to show, her movements were slowing and her entire body ached. The main battle for the palace was taking place below with columns of Eldar guardians marching towards the undisciplined ranks of Dark Eldar warriors and wyches, their long shuriken catapults spraying a deadly barrage of miniscule white shards at their dark kin who danced and spun, dodging the barrage. Smaller skirmishes were taking place all across the palace with some being won by Eldar and others by their dark kin. This entire scenario was just a diversion, Mara felt it, their targets weren't the regular soldiers but the seers and farseers, for that they needed their best troops like the Incubi and the deadly Mandrakes.

Taking a deep breath Mara began running, jumping on top of the railing and across the main ground floor, her lightsabre alive with emerald green light in her hands. Her target was a group of wyches who were approaching a beleaguered squad of Eldar Banshees. She dived across the space and decapitated one of the wyches in midair before falling into a crouch, deflecting splinter rounds with her lightsabre, she mentally concentrated on a piece of debris, lifting it and sending it hurtling towards the surprised wyches. The banshees took the initiative, screaming war-cries and charging the now confused female darklings with their witchblades held high.

The battle didn't take long with the banshees cutting down the wyches with such passion that it flowed through the force like a raging river. By the time the last wyche had been left dead on the ground Mara turned to stare straight into the face mask of the lead banshee.

"How did you get out of your room" she asked suddenly.

"Yu guys really underestimate us Chara" Mara replied with a grin "Using the same password over and over again, it was only a matter of time until I found it out"

The banshee growled angrily, her lust for battle still nowhere near spent. Mara looked her straight through her eye visors, knowing full well that she needed help to get to the upper levels.

"You're wasting your time Chara" Mara said firmly "The darklings main target is not any normal soldier or civilian. Their after seers, especially farseers"

"How do you know this Mon-Keigh?"

"One of their victims told me the information" Mara replied, knowing full well that the banshee knew she was telling the truth "Now are you coming with me or not?"

**This is just a question so please don't bite my head off for an amateur in Warhammer. I'm thinking of a slightly romantic relationship between Gabriel and Ishta. I could forget it but I think that that part of the story will become a little lifeless if I don't. Should I go through with it or just forget it?**

**I have heard from a few of the books that it had happened before (Then again it was the ramblings of a man who also said that he was a Water-Caste diplomat).**


	47. Darklings, Lightlings & Jedi: Part II

_**Chapter 46**_

_**Darklings, Lightlings & Jedi**_

_**Part II**_

The _Millennium Falcon _was one of the most famous ships in the galaxies history, a heavily modified YT-1300 freighter, piloted by the famous ex-smuggler Han Solo it was a vessel that survived countless encounters and battles from as far back as the beginning of the Galactic Civil War until now. A major reason why the _Falcon _had survived for so long was because of its heavy, illegal modifications giving the freighter enough firepower to go toe to toe with a frigate and make it as nimble as a starfighter. Such modifications included a pair of proton torpedo tubes, two concussion missile launchers, frontal laser cannons, dorsal and belly quad-laser turrets, military grade shielding, sensors, hyperdrive engines and just recently the most recent cloaking technology.

Luke didn't know how Han acquired the cloak and quite frankly he didn't care, he was just happy that it was active, shielding the vessel and allowing it to slip quietly through the Eldar fleet squadrons which were now mobilising against his fathers forces. To add to the infiltration the ten Jedi knights within the freighter had expanded their awareness and cloaked it from psykers as well as ships sensors.

Luke sat in the co-pilots seat of the _Falcons _cockpit. His best friend and brother-in-law Han Solo sitting in the pilot's seat beside him, his eyes fixed on the massive intimidating form of the Craftworld which completely engulfed the main view-screen, his hands on the control yoke of the piloting console, making minor adjustments to the freighters trajectory towards the gapping hanger bay doors of the Craftworld.

"They see us kid?" Han asked, his eyes not leaving his goal.

"No" Luke replied, a now rare smile gracing his lips "They have no idea that we're here"

"Halleluiah to Jedi cloaking techniques" Han muttered.

"Halleluiah to that cloaking device you got for this old bucket of bolts"

"Hey, hey, hey, this ship is still as good as she was when I got her"

"So she was falling apart then too?" Luke asked with a chuckle.

Han huffed and returned his attention to his job. Luke had been decimated when Mara vanished just over a year ago. Even now he was still not the same guy that he knew. He had become a shadow of what he once was and his son Ben, now seven years old had also been decimated after his mothers supposed death. Even now Luke didn't seem to believe what his sixth sense, the force was telling him, and Han believed that Luke wouldn't believe that his wife was alive until he saw her and held her in his arms. It was exactly what would happen to him if he lost Leia.

Finally the _Falcon _passed through the decimated hanger doors into a chamber bigger than anything they had ever seen before, the chamber stretched for as far and as high as the naked eye could see. Ships lay docked in the walls of the chamber which was almost three kilometres wide.

But the duos attention was brought to a massive 3km long, sleek vessel landed in the centre of the hanger, coloured in blacks and purples and shaped like a blade with a scorpion tail in the dorsal section. Flashes of white light and small explosions dotted the landscape surrounding the battleship, showing columns of red and white armoured guardians and aspect warriors mixed in with the black and purple armoured forms of Dark Eldar warriors and a mass of other elite troopers.

Several hundred meters away the modified freighter hovered, watching the main battle and doing last second checks before they launched their attacks. Han was busy pulling switches and levers, arming the proton torpedo tubes and main laser cannons.

"Right um" Han started before putting his hand over the mic and turning to Luke "What's the names of those two on the quads?"

"Luminara Undali and Barriss Offee" Luke replied in an equally hushed tone.

"Luminara, Barriss. You guys ready?"

"Bring them on" the younger tone of Barriss piped up.

"We're ready" Luminara added more seriously.

"Whenever you're ready general Solo" Luke said with a mock salute as he rose from his seat and headed towards the main chamber of the _Falcon, _obviously to prepare the strike team for a fight.

"Okay" Han replied as he cracked his knuckles and placed his hands on the control yokes, bringing the old Corellian freighter forward.

The freighter immediately accelerated. Its cloak deactivating as it fired a pair of proton torpedoes and a volley of lasfire from its main laser cannons and quad turrets. The torpedoes hit the unshielded vessel head on and exploding on impact, tearing through the large vessels dorsal section with the lasfire peppering the hull, damaging the already crippled battleship more and making it completely unable to enter space again. The freighter flew past, surprising the scores of Eldar and their dark kin who were fighting on the floor and turning around for another attack run, this time firing a volley of concussion missiles along with another bombardment of lasfire.

The ramp way opened in midair and a group of eight Jedi lead by Luke Skywalker dived out towards the battle taking place below them, their lightsabres active before they landed and killed a Dark Eldar warrior each. Twenty clone jump troopers followed, activating their jump-packs as they fell, which stopped them about half a meter above the floor. They then turned them off and landed in crouches, their specialised E-17 blaster rifles already firing upon the scores of Dark Eldar charging towards the Jedi strike team.

-----

Mara followed the Eldar Banshees as they took off down a small labyrinth of side corridors, away from the main skirmish taking place in the palace and taking the long way towards the Farseers chambers. They continued running up the corridors with almost supernatural speed and grace, so fast in fact that the red haired Jedi Master had to call upon the force to keep up with the fleeting elites.

Eventually they came to a chamber shinning white with wraithbone and at the sides of this small chamber were four pools, full of some kind of bluish liquid. Through the force Mara could have sworn that she could feel emotions and thoughts escaping the pool, almost as if they were a living, breathing entity. Without a hint of hesitation the Banshees dived into the far pool, vanishing in the blue liquid. The Jedi master entered the chamber more carefully than the Banshees and slowly approached the pool they vanished into.

She looked down into the liquid, expecting to see her own reflection in the shinning blue water. Instead she saw a birds eye view of the reception chamber directly outside of the Farseers main chambers, a massive hall that's walls shinned from wraithbone, pillars were strategically placed along the walls, keeping up the equally magnificent ceiling. Other than that the chamber was bare, the wraithbone doing the decoration for it with illusions of what a visitor expected the hall to look like.

On the floors were the Banshees, fighting with a squad of Incubi warriors with such passion and determination that it couldn't be matched. As Mara touched the pool the liquid turned red and the psychic voices started to whisper warnings into her mind. She was an unknown to the spirits of the Craftworlds infinity circuit, the fact that she was human probably had something to do with it as well.

She was jumping in, no matter how the spirits that infested the spirit pool felt, but just as she prepared to jump in she heard the blood curdling sound of a death scream. She spun around in time to see an Eldar Guardian fall to his knees outside of the chamber, his abdomen cut open and his blood flowed down his psycho-plastic armour and forming a pool of crimson on the floor.

As he fell forward a swath of Dark Eldar warriors ran into the chamber, either wearing their nightmarish helmets or without, showing their sickly pale skin, crazed eyes and black teeth. Armed with splinter rifles and a mass of twisted, bending and in some cases forked blades held in their free hands and clenched between their teeth. Their intentions were clear, they wanted to decapitate her, mutilate her and cart her off to their torture chambers on whatever nightmarish world they called home.

Mara snorted, let them try. She then fell into a defensive Soresu stance and readied herself for the battle to come. Let them come, the Jedi will dance and all around her would die.

------

Anakin Skywalker stood at his daughter's side, watching as she negotiated with the Siam-Hann superior officer, a male Eldar who had introduced himself as High Admiral Eldran Sylvanne, supreme commander of the Siam-Hann's combined defensive and offensive fleet.

She not only physically resembled his wife in appearance she also had Padme's keen mind and natural negotiating ability. She stood beside him, dressed in a simple white dress with a black belt slung around her waist, the silvery hilt of a lightsabre holstered, it was this weapon that both he and his daughter had that got the attention of the High Admiral but he was still being cryptic.

"High Admiral" Leia said, her dark brown eyes fixed upon his silvery orbs "Please listen to what I have to say, I know the sending a team of Jedi and troopers into your Craftworld may have not been the most wise decision to make but I can assure you that they will take no action against your forces"

"You expect me to take your word for it Mon-Keigh" the High Admiral bit back, his disgust clear in his voice.

"Right then" Leia returned heatedly "If we had not acted then what would have happened. You would just simply return Mara-Jade Skywalker back to us without a fuss. I find that doubtful, plus the fact that if the Jedi team had not infiltrated your home then more of your kind would fall to your, _your _dark kin!"

Anakin hid a smile, she may have had his wife's looks and political mind but she had his short fussed temper and way of speaking her mind no matter what.

"Enough" Anakin said, raising his hand to silence both his daughter and the supreme commander "We will discuss the outcome of our hurried action later. The fact of the matter is our people are in your city fighting with your soldiers against these pirates and raiders. As my daughter here has already explained we are here to offer our assistance"

"And you expect me to believe that you would simply help us out of the kindness of your heart?"

"No, we simply wish that our people are returned to us once the battle is finished, including Mara-Jade" Anakin retorted lightly, if being in the netherworld for nearly three decades had one good effect on him it was learning patience.

------

Chara spun on her heel, her witchblade moving as fluently as her body as she parried and countered the attacks of the Incubi attacking her. The Incubi was no amateur to a battlefield, he himself danced his own fluent dance of death, striking at her with almost sadistically articulate strokes. He still had one weakness that she did not, he enjoyed the battle to much and in doing so he was bound to get cocky and give her an opening.

He did and she took it, feigning a swing into his abdomen she abruptly changed the direction of her blade, bringing it up and cutting through his chin, slicing his head neatly in half. She spun around, the now limp body falling forwards to the floor and surveyed the chamber before her.

Her Banshees were fighting and fighting well but they were outnumbered at least two to one by the Incubi warriors. Another Incubi warrior charged towards her, his face set in a snarl and his blades held firmly in his hands. She spun as he charged, spinning around her new opponent and digging the already bloodied blade of her sword into the now stumbling Eldar's back, exiting through his chest with a spatter of blood.

She wrenched her witchblade free and gazed at the continuing battle with bloodshot eyes. She was a warrior of the Howling Banshees, a servant of Kharne, the Bloody Handed God. Combat was her path and she craved it. She craved for her blade to taste blood, she craved to dance the dance of death, she craved to live and die by the stroke of a sword.

"My lady" one of her warriors, Drynnia called as she jumped beside her "Do you sense it?"

"Yes" Chara replied as she turned to glance at the spirit pool where they had entered the chamber "The darkness is almost palpable" more of the dark kin were coming, their lust to inflict pain and death palpable to her fledgling psychic abilities. At least fifty warriors, lead by a being whose darkness and lust to cause unimaginable pain and suffering, a sudden psychic assault made her stumble backwards, forcing her to close herself of from the warp. A mandrake was coming.

"Can you handle this?"

"Easily ma'am" Drynnia replied before drawing her second witchblade and spinning both weapons in her hands "We'll rescue the Farseer"

------

She had them in a bottleneck, fought them back into the corridor and kept them there. She spun and danced at the mouth to the room, her emerald lightsabre a blur of motion as she deflecting splinter rounds and parried poison covered blades. Dark Eldar flew forward and just as quickly fell to her blade, losing limbs and heads, weapons lay cut in half on the wraithbone, and blood spattered the walls and floor.

This was a dance, a dance of the force, a dance of death. One wrong move could prove to be fatal. One slip of her guard would mean a cut or a slice that could prove lethal. Still Mara spun and danced, looking more like a true warrior of the force than any other time she had in her life. The force was with her, the force was controlling her and she let it do as it wills.

Slowly the bodies at her feet turned into a mound and the surviving warriors had to clamber over it before facing her, a second later and they fell onto the pile, adding to its height and making it more difficult for the warrior behind to face her. As the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes into a half hour she had already gone past her physical limits. The only reason she was continuing with such ferocity was because she was calling completely upon the force, even her adrenaline boost was exhausted.

The dance was slowing. Her entire body ached even with the soothing balm of the force upon her. Now every once and a while one of the warriors was getting a lucky shot, cutting and nicking her body with their poison covered blades, red blood trickled from the gashes on her arms, legs and sides, tainted purple from the paralysis toxins. She knew what these poisons did, they didn't kill the victim. They paralyzed the target so that she could be dragged back to their world, enslaved, tortured and thrown into their coliseums as gladiators until she fell.

As Chara jumped out of the spirit pool, expecting to find a small force of at least twenty warriors and one mandrake, instead found the Mon-Keigh, Mara-Jade standing on a pile of black and purple armoured dead Dark Eldar warriors. Panting heavily her eyes were alive with her force abilities, her arms and legs were covered with cuts and gashes with blood staining her white and brown sleeveless tunic and pants, her life fluid dripping onto the dead at her feet, tainted purple by the paralysis toxins that were now in her bloodstreams.

"Mara" Chara called, saying her name for the first time "Can you hear me, are you alright?"

Her eyes suddenly came back to life with a gasp, and she slowly turned her head to see the Banshee, a smile crossed her lips "Kicked their ass" she muttered before her eyes became dilated and she fell, rolling down the small mound of dead she had made and landing flat on her back. Chara moved over to her and scanned her suddenly glazed over emerald eyes, those weren't the eyes of a dying woman and the colour of the poison told her that it was a paralysis. The dark kin were better known for using that than any deadly venom.

"I have heard rumours about the Jedi" a voice rasped from behind the body mound. Chara spun, her witchblades unsheathed in time to hear the sound of firm footfalls as the mandrake scaled the mound and made it to the top, his skin was a pale and sickly grey and his head was shaved bald. Wearing slender black and purple carapace armour with satchels and belts tied around it, showing a number of blades, needles and a pair of swords across his back "Impressive, she and you would undoubtedly make a fine duo for her slave pits…if we didn't overdose her with the toxins that is"

Chara was frozen in place, she could handle warriors and elites like Incubi easily, but she couldn't take on a mandrake. There was a reason why they were feared even by the most powerful of the Dark Eldar lords and archons. Their combat ability was second to none. One mandrake was worth ten, maybe twenty normal warriors at the very least.

A hand grabbed her armour and pulled her down to stare into Mara's emerald eyes, obviously the human had sensed her sudden fear and panic through the force. It was through those eyes that Chara decided she couldn't run, if she did then her fellows and the farseer herself would be in danger.

"Chara…hold him off…for a…few more minutes" Mara gasped, gritting her teeth as the toxins ran through her blood vessels, felling like molten lava "Just a…few minutes"

"I was planning on doing that anyway Mon-Keigh" Chara bit out "But why only for a few minutes?"

"Because Luke is coming" Mara replied weakly before she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

"Oh is the little Mon-Keigh Jedi out cold" the mandrake taunted with a sadistic grin, his blades drawn and held firmly in his gauntleted hands "Then that just leaves you little lightling"

Chara sprung to her feet, her two witchblades held across her psycho-plastic armoured chest. She jumped high into the air and sliced downwards with her two witchblades only to have them keenly intercepted. The mandrake smirked and batted the blades away with his sword, sending her flying into the air. The banshee somersaulted backwards, landed feet first against the far wall in a crouch and lunged forward, propelling her back towards the mandrake, her blades held straight in front of her.

The mandrake grumbled something inaudible and sidestepped the banshees attack, swinging with his sword as she flew past him and cut into her side, blood spurted out of the slash wound and spattered across the corridors floor as Chara landed on a heap. Her every movement radiating shock.

"Is that it" the mandrake asked as he approached the Banshee who had dragged herself to her knees, her back facing him "I must admit I expected better from a Howling Banshee, even if she is new blood" he licked his lips and in a move to fast for the eye to detect he grabbed her masked face with his clawed hands and yanked her to her feet before throwing her against the wall. She hit the wall with a painful thud, her spine erupting in agony even as the mesh armour absorbed the worst of it.

The clawed fingers of his gauntlets dug into her helmet, creating cracks across the otherwise immaculate armour. Chara growled angrily, her adrenaline finally starting to circulate around her system. She lashed out with her foot, catching the arrogant mandrake in his groan. He doubled over in pain and was immediately assaulted with a head butt from the banshee. He fell backwards, dazed by the sudden almost desperate move.

Chara stumbled as the mandrake released his vice-like grip from her face mask. The manoeuvre she used was one of desperation, whatever it took to survive, her teacher had told her that and she was glad that she listened. The head butt had damaged her mask more with half of it cracked and falling away showing the top right side of her face, her violet eyes alive with fire and passion.

She reached down and felt the handgrip of one of her swords, thanking the gods she grabbed it and examined the blood covered blade before breaking out in a run for the recovering mandrake. Her blade was parried and followed up by a knee to her gut, which took her back down to her knees again. The mandrake then kicked her in the side of the head, sending her corkscrewing in midair and landing on a heap a few meters down the hall.

"Lightling whore" he swore as he approached her, his every word spewing out venom and hate "I'll send you to your precious dead gods. I'll crush your soul stone in my hands and hope Slaanesh does the same to you as she did to them!!!" He reached down and grabbed her by her throat, hauling her up so that their faces were millimetres apart. She could smell his breath, which smelt like rotting flesh and blood. She gasped for air, her feet dangling a few inches away from the floor.

He held her there for a few moments, his right hand gripped firmly around her throat, his left holding the hilt of his own sword. He thrust up, stabbing her through her abdomen and straight through her back, he then slowly pulled the blade out, letting her feel the agony of her organs getting butchered and her ribs splintering before dropping her uncaringly to the floor.

"Lightlings are only good for one thing" the mandrake mumbled as he stalked back up the corridor to his quarry and a fresh group of victims "Dying!"

As he reached the top of the corridor he found himself stopping in his tracks, something had changed. He spun around to see three new figures at the end of the corridor, their faces illuminated by glowing blades of light that they held in their hands. Jedi, more Jedi.

The mandrake found himself grinning, one Jedi should be good enough for his master but another three, dead or alive would make her most pleased. Two of the new individuals were human, one male with spiked black hair and dressed in some sort of red armour with a crimson cape while the other was a female of the repulsive species, her hair a long brandy brown with piercing dark brown eyes and unblemished features, she wore a simple tunic and trousers with a black belt hanging around her waist. The third was a male from a species he hadn't seen before. His skin was greyish in colour with black hair, the top half of his head covered in a crown of small horns. Long brown robes hid his physique well but he held his weapon like a true professional.

Perhaps he would gain a little bit of sport from these three before he took his prize, redrawing his power-sword he held the handle firmly with both hands and jumped high into the air.

------

Jaina found herself leading the way, her force-senses on high alert, following the trail of destruction that was left by an individual of great power and evil. She could feel at least that much, following her were two Jedi masters of the old order who were also part of the strike team, Jedi masters Rii'ke En and Agen Kolar, a Zabrak male Jedi master and once a member of the Jedi High Council.

As they finally rounded the corner Jaina's eyes fell upon the limp form of an Eldar elite warrior, lying on the floor, blood flowing out of a fatal wound in her abdomen. Her eyes rose in time to see the attacker, a bald male Eldar, wearing slender black and purple armour with an assortment of weapons hanging from belts, satchels and holsters. He spun to see them, his grotesque mouth curling into a repulsive smile of scarred lips and serrated teeth before he drew his sword, blood still oozing from the blade.

As one both En and Kolar jumped forward to meet him, their blades held firmly in their hands, the Dark Eldar didn't hesitate. Smiling and jumping up to meet them. Jaina started running towards the battle, her lightsabre glowing in her hands before she was stopped, a hand grabbing her ankle firmly. She looked down to see the Banshee, blood trickling from her bruised lips.

"Are you…Jedi?" she wheezed.

Jaina nodded as she knelt down beside the dying warrior and carefully pushed her onto her back before inspecting the wound, she shook her head sadly "I'm afraid this is beyond my skill to heal"

"I know" the Eldar replied "I have a favour to ask"

"What is it?" Jaina asked softly.

"Your fellow is…in the spirit pool chamber…unconscious but alive" Chara whispered "Beyond is the Farseer's chambers…I beg of you, please protect her…give me your…word!"

"You have my word" Jaina said as she reignited her weapon "And my lightsabre, promises that I make with this weapon are promises that I keep"

"I see" Chara replied as darkness clouded the sides of her vision, threatening to drag her down to eternal sleep "Then go…you can't help me Mon-Keigh"

"What is your name?" Jaina asked.

"Chara Tan of the Howling Banshees" she whispered with pride.

"Jaina Solo of the New Jedi Order" Jaina replied.

"Fight well Jaina Solo of the Jedi" Chara said before her eyes turned into lifeless pools and she was no more "Fight well"

Jaina leaned forward, closing the Banshee's eyes before leaping to her feet and joining the battle with her two predecessors against the mandrake. The two masters had used their numbers to their advantage, manoeuvring the mandrake into a corner with well timed lightsabre combos and strikes. But an animal that has been backed into a corner can be a dangerous creature, the mandrake struck out with such power and force that it took the two masters completely by surprise.

He charged forward, his black bladed sword spinning and slashing at incredibly high speeds, the two masters were finding it difficult to keep up. Eventually the mandrake found an opening and took it, plunging his sword into master Rii'ke En's chest. The Jedi master gave a strangled cry before he fell to the floor and once again joined the force.

Agen Kolar barely had time to register the death of his comrade for the mandrake once again came onto the offensive, attacking him with slashes and swings from his power-sword, making the veteran Jedi master back away and lose ground. The Dark Eldar elite continued his advance, stabbing and swinging his weapon with uncontrollable delight, he grinned and laughed, his blade catching the Jedi master in the arm and leaving a shallow gash which immediately started to ooze with blood. He didn't stop there, levelling the master with a kick to the side and sending him skidding several feet.

It was only then that Jaina entered the fight, her lightsabre a blur of motion as she parried his slash and countered with several jabs and stabs of her own. Singeing the mandrakes black armour and charring his exposed skin with her near misses. The revived Jedi master joined her counterattack, getting to his feet and channelling the force through him he levitated several blades which were strewn about and launched them towards the Dark Eldar, planning on impaling him on one of the swords.

The Eldar kicked Jaina in the chest, throwing her aside as he started to spin and dance, his blade nothing more than a complete blur as he deflected the incoming blades with his power-sword, sending them flying in different directions and plunging into the walls and floor. He then reached into his satchels and pulled out two handfuls of throwing needles, he spun in midair, landing in a crouch and throwing the projectiles at his two opponents, Kolar was able to deflect the weapons in time but Jaina was too close to be able to do that.

Instead she instinctively raised her arms across her face and upper body, trying to shield her vital parts from the crazed Eldar's attack. Three needles imbedded themselves into her arms, making her give out a grunt of pain. Before the Eldar could follow up Kolar was on the attack again, his lightsabre weaving in a protecting arc against the still flying projectiles being thrown at him.

"Pull those out Solo" he shouted "Their bound to be poisoned!"

Jaina starred wide eyed at the needles and happily complied, pulling out the needles and examining their tips, she saw a purplish liquid mixed in with the crimson of her blood, she had been poisoned, but what was it, a paralysis toxin or a killing poison.

The mandrake took that moment to laugh almost fanatically "Within a matter of seconds your arms will go numb, and then it will spread up to your shoulders and down your body until you can't feel a thing. By the time you reawaken child you'll be in a Homunculi torture chamber!"

"Assuming you can defeat me darkling" Kolar replied flatly as he struck with his lightsabre again, the force behind the swing making the Dark Eldar jump back a few feet.

"You don't get it" the mandrake replied, as if stating a fact than asking a question "You have just lost one of your comrades to my blade and the other will be immobilised in a matter of moments, without them you are just a mere hindrance, a hindrance that I will squash!"

He was right, already Jaina could no longer feel her arms, they hung limply by her sides, her lightsabre escaping her grasp and hitting the floor with a clank, its blade deactivating as it rolled several feet away. She felt it slowly slither up to her shoulders, feeling like they were exposed to the coldest winds of the Hoth storms. She fell to her knees as Agen Kolar picked up the duel again, trying to lead the mandrake away from her now useless self. The freezing feeling seemed to bypass her main organs and slither down to her legs, numbing them as well. She fell sideways as her legs gave way, darkness threatening to overcome her vision, the cold making her wish for rest and sleep.

Agen Kolar felt the young new blood Jedi begin to flicker in and out of consciousness and mentally cursed. He had been charged as her protector by Skywalker, his exact words being 'Watch my grandchild master and make sure you all come out of this in one piece'. He had already failed at that, Rii'ke lay dead on the floor, joining the vile Dark Eldar and the brave Banshee as one of the dead. The mandrake grinned as he continued his assault, his attacks seemingly getting faster and harder to predict.

The poison in the Zabrak's own wound was beginning to take effect, until now he had suppressed it with the force but the continuous assault by the mandrake had tired him out to the point that he was losing the forces current. He was basically fighting with one arm and the mandrake knew it, aiming for that side in attempts to end the fight, Kolar had no choice, he hated humiliating himself with these dirty tactics. He waited until the mandrake lunged at him and then took the chance, head butting the foul demon with his forehead, the horns crowning the top of his head digging into the Dark Eldar's skin. The monster stumbled backwards and screamed in both agony and ecstasy as light red blood started to cascade down his nightmarishly pale face from the opened wound in his forehead.

He ran his hand down his face, covering the remainder of his skin red with his blood before levelling a feral stare upon the Jedi master. He screamed a war-cry and threw his power-sword, the blade spinning in midair as it flew towards its target. Kolar was just able to bring his lightsabre up to deflect the sword away but by then the Mandrake had dashed into the opening and jumped high into the air, spinning and delivering a perfect roundhouse kick to the side of the Jedi's head, sending him flying and crashing into the far wall.

He followed up, running towards the dazed master, grabbing a duo of forked knives from one of his belts as he did so and plunged them into his opponent's abdomen. Agen Kolar coughed up blood as the Eldar pulled them out and followed them up with a devastating kick to that same spot. He stabbed the master again and again, his arms a blur as he thrust and pulled, by the time he was finished the Jedi fell dead to the floor, blood trickling from a dozen wounds in his abdomen and chest.

The mandrake rose to his feet, a wide blood covered grin crossing his crimson face, the two blades spinning in his hands. He hadn't had so much fun in a long time, not since he found himself fighting against a champion of the _Dark Angels _chapter. He threw his head back and laughed viciously, hoping that he will meet another of these upstarts soon. He didn't see the lightsabre until it stabbed through his back and through his chest, the green blade burning away his left lung and disintegrating his left ribcage.

He slowly turned to see a flicker of golden red hair and a pair of glowing emerald green eyes, full of life and determination. Mara Jade had somehow beaten his paralysis and gotten back to her feet. He shivered and groaned, more in disappointment in himself than in anger before his eyes lost all life and he fell to the ground.

------

As the mandrake fell dead to the ground Mara winced as another wave of pain flowed through her, her lightsabre slipping from her grasp and hitting off the floor. She stumbled backwards, feeling more than seeing the slashes and gashes lining along her entire body. Blood trickled from her wounds, staining her clothes crimson. She called upon the force, clearing her vision and giving her extra strength, she was completely calling upon it to move.

Her eyes fell upon the prone form of her niece and then widened in fear, Jaina simply wasn't moving, her blood trickled from several miniscule stab wounds in her arms. Mara stumbled over to her fallen niece and falling to her knees pushed Jaina over onto her back before pulling her away from the body strewn battle and leaning her against a wall.

"Jaina" Mara called weakly. Wiping away a trickle of blood from her mouth while doing so "Can you hear me?"

The young woman's eye flickered open at the sound of her name "Aunt Mara?"

"I'm here Jaina" Mara said as she put her arms around her niece in an embrace.

"Good" Jaina replied in a weak whisper, a seemingly fragile smile curling her now blue lips "Your alive, Luke will be so happy"

"He'll be even happier when he sees the two of us" Mara replied "I'm going to put us into a healing trance okay? You just rest"

Jaina nodded, her eyes suddenly looked drowsy before she closed them and entered a blissful sleep. Mara repositioned herself so that Jaina could lean against her, allowing the dual healing trance to continue on unhindered before she too started to close her eyes. A familiar and very welcoming force presence brought her back out of the trance and she looked up to see a man with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes kneeling beside her.

"Hello farm-boy" she muttered sleepily and was rewarded with a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Hello my little firecracker" Luke replied with a real smile crossing his lips before he turned to a group of white armoured soldiers standing behind him, Clone Troopers "Gentlemen take care of my wife and niece for me!"

"Yes sir" one of the soldiers replied.

Luke took out his lightsabre and walked steadily into the spirit chamber, Tahiri and Jacen flanking him on the left and right. He felt Jacen's worry for his sister through the force but knew that he had a job to do, she was in safe hands. He sighed as the spirit pool changed from a tranquil blue to a raging red but with a swift discharge of force energy silenced them.

"This Farseer had better be worth the bother" Luke muttered before jumping into the pool, Tahiri and Jacen following close behind.

He stepped into a magnificent chamber, made of pure wraithbone which resounded with the psychic voices of thousands upon thousands of beings, in his minds eye he felt the discomfort and plain old fashioned will to fight, a massive set of double doors stood out at the other side of the chambers, blasted open by some unknown and powerful force. Bodies covered the floor, either the dark armoured forms of Dark Eldar or the crimson psycho-plastic armoured forms of Siam-Hann Banshees. The battle was still progressing but the Craftworld Eldar was now outnumbered two to one.

With a roar Luke lead the charge, releasing a concentrated series of force pushes, each one smashing into a black armoured Incubi warrior and sending them flying. Allowing the banshees a chance to regroup, it was only then that the Jedi and the Banshees laid eyes upon each other. Both sides unsure of whether the other was friend or foe, they didn't get a chance as the warriors jumped back to their feet and surrounded the group, they began closing in, eyes aflame and weapons held firmly in their hands. The Banshees and Jedi ended up back to back, witchblades and lightsabres alive and ready for the battle to come.

_To be continued!_

**Originally I was planning on making these two simple chapters, but because of how much I wrote I have decided to turn it into three. So the main battle in the Farseer's chambers is about to begin. Hope you guys are enjoying the show!**


	48. Betrayal

_**Chapter 47**_

_**Betrayal**_

**Next week I'm officially going to be a University student, looking forward to that but I don't know much about whether my accommodation will have wireless so updates may start to slow for a while, just wanted to apologise ahead for that.**

**------**

**32 ABY: 2 Years Ago**

"You know who I am" the being said as she lounged in an extravagantly decorated armchair made of rich Oak and black leather "And you know why you have found your way here, you are looking for knowledge, for wisdom, to try and completely understand the force, to find a balance in a wounded galaxy"

"That may be" the Jedi replied, standing to the side of the room, his eyes cool and calculating as they surveyed the well decorated chamber hidden deep within an ancient and supposedly long abandoned fortress on the planet of Ziost, once one of the ancient Sith empires throne worlds, now a desolate planet of ancient ruins and massive desserts "And your both right and wrong, I am looking for complete understanding in the force, that's why I have been learning from so many force-orders in the last few years. But if you think that I am going to join you and your order then you are mistaken"

"Oh" the shrouded woman replied "Is that so?"

"Yes" the Jedi replied firmly "From what I have learned your kind has been responsible for many of the major wars in the galaxy, under the rule of one of your own the galaxy lived in fear and terror, forever looking to the skies for a sign of a massive sphere appearing in the orbit of their planet"

"There is a different between us and Sidious" the woman replied "For one thing we are not insane, we are not looking to destroy the galaxy or shape it into our own image, we are simply looking to bring balance to the force"

"Through the blood of the Jedi and so many others" the Jedi responded, his voice carrying no disgust or emotion at the thought, simply stating fact.

"We are hoping to avoid that" she replied as she pushed herself off the chair to her feet "But you know the Jedi as well as you think you know us. They will never accept us or our ideas, you know this is true"

The Jedi didn't respond and the shrouded messenger felt his resolve begin to weaken, hiding a smirk and cloaking her feeling of mirth she reached out a gloved hand towards the Jedi, who hesitated "Let me show you what our plans are Jacen, you can choose to join us or not. It is completely up to you"

Jacen Solo, one of the finest Jedi of the New Jedi Order that the post-Empire galaxy had ever seen hesitated for a few moments longer, his mind torn between the promises and ambitions of this woman and his loyalties to the Jedi Order and his family before he sighed and took her hand.

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**34 ABY: Present Day**

A squeeze of the trigger and the Dark Eldar warrior was peppered with miniscule white shards of shuriken fire, slicing through his dark mesh armour, his pale skin and right through the bones and organs underneath. Exarch Psicosis smirked beneath his mask, his deathspinner smoking from the burst of fire that it unleashed as the Dark Eldar fell to the ground.

The battle had moved into one of the outer cities of the Craftworld, one of the settlements that could be seen from space through a transparent dome. Seeing through that dome showed that the city was burning. Beautiful buildings and skyscrapers, made by the best of the Bonesingers were in ruins, their once pristine outer shells pocketed and cratered by direct splinter and dark lance fire. In the skies above the city hordes of Dark Eldar Jetbikers duelled with the Siam-Hann's most prestigious and popular guardians, the Wild Rider clans.

Wild Riders were a type of elite warriors that only the Siam-Hann possessed, riding on beautiful and sleek jetbikes, armed with the shuriken cannons of their rides and an assortment of blades and pistols on their armoured forms. They were one of the most feared in all of the Eldar Craftworlds, every warrior who hailed from Siam-Hann had ridden with the Wild Riders for a time and as such all warriors of this Craftworld were part of the clans. Even the Seers, Exarches and the Farseers themselves hailed from a Wild Riders clan. Farseer Stormwind had been a very well known Wild Rider before she took on the path of the witch, earning the nickname of the crimson streak.

The Exarch smirked, his memory may have been erased when he became a warrior of the aspect temples but he remembered one thing, one small detail. The memory of a battlefield on some far off world, a warrior, dressed in swirling red and white armour standing on top of a mound of bodies, holding the banner of Siam-Hann firmly in one hand and a witchblade in the other, long black hair flew in the wind, swirling on the air currants like it had a life of its own, pristine white skin coated crimson with blood, eyes of the darkest red alive with such passion and life that could not be denied. This was Farseer Stormwind before she became a Seer, when she was a Wild Rider of the StormSeekers clan.

He did not know if she had lost that passion and strength when she became a seer but he knew one thing. Whether she had it or not was irrelevant, she was still strong enough to destroy and maim her enemies, no pathetic Dark Eldar Archon had what it took to bring her down. She was the type to look into the eyes of _She Who Thirsts_ and spit on her face. Her pride as a Siam-Hann Farseer demanded no less.

He spun on his heel, his deathspinner cocked and ready and released another volley of white shuriken shards upon a charging Dark Eldar warrior, effectively riddling his armour with tiny holes, killing him on the spot. Immediately three more warriors came at him from behind, using the death of their comrade to their advantage but before they could reach him he vanished in a smog of white static electricity, reappearing above them and releasing another volley from his main weapon, killing two.

The third cart wheeled out of the firing path at the last moment, throwing a pair of daggers in mid-move. Psicosis was able to cover himself with his death spinner, hearing the clanging of metal embedding into metal and the sparking that followed. His weapon was useless know. Throwing it aside he drew a pair of small duelling daggers from one of his belts and deflected a thrust from the same warrior, the two hit the ground, not even stopping to check their footing as they struck and parried each others blades.

He spun around the warrior, using his own weight against him and shoved one of his powerdaggers into his side, allowing fresh blood to flow from the wound, he then completed his spin and using his clean dagger slit his dark kin's throat from ear to ear. His instinct screamed at him to move and he did, just barely missing a spray of splinter fire, he turned and clashed blades with another warrior, an Incubi this time and grunted as the sudden strike made him lose his grip on his last good dagger.

The Incubi then delivered a stiff kick to the Exarches abdomen, sending him skidding backwards before striking with his blade, aiming for the Exarches chest. Before he could complete the manoeuvre a volley of crimson lasfire struck the Incubi, peppering him with crimson bolts and throwing him sideways, dead by the time he hit the floor. A soldier wearing mud caked white armour with a jetpack attached to his back, holding a pair of long barrelled blaster pistols in his hands dived to the ground beside the Exarch, rolling to his feet as he hit the ground and aimed his blasters, peppering another warrior with blaster fire. He didn't know who this man was. He didn't have the feel, the look, the weaponry or the smell of an Eldar. He smelled that this was a human.

Questions started to flow through his mind, why was another human on this Craftworld? How did he get onto the Craftworld? Those questions were muted however as a fresh group of Dark Eldar warriors finished off a squad of guardians and turned to challenge him and his new 'ally'. The two warriors looked at each other and understanding passed between them before they jumped into action, the white armoured soldier aiming his blasters and the Exarch drawing a pair of shuriken pistols.

------

Luke Skywalker stood back to back with one of the Eldar Banshees, his lightsabre ignited and his mind fully focused on the possible battle to come. The Banshees were obviously weary of their guests but they obviously recognised the lightsabres that Luke and his Jedi held firmly in their hands.

"Ten of us against twenty of you" Tahiri piped up "Doesn't quite sound fair" This drew a few mocking smiles from the dark kin who weren't wearing their bladed helmets, but Tahiri grinned playfully at the same time and placed a hand behind her back "Would it help if I fought with one hand"

The Dark Eldar screamed angrily at them and charged, their blades held ready to strike. In response the three Jedi walked in front of the group and raising their hands released a blast of force pushes, releasing them from rapid punch movements from their hands, in groups of three the charging Eldar reacted like they were struck by a rancar. Flying backwards and hitting off the far wall, knocking the wind from their lungs.

It took the Eldar Banshees a moment to regain themselves but when they did they screamed bone chilling war cries and charged forward, the Jedi following them with their lightsabres spinning. The Banshees acted like they were trained to, most getting to their targets and quickly killing them with their blades. Within a few moments twenty to ten turned into ten to ten.

Luke ducked just as a barrage of splinter fire shrieked past his ears and created a cluster of miniscule holes in the floor, he crouched and skidded into a spin, his lightsabre deflected splinter fire and in one quick upwards stroke took off the arm of the Dark Eldar firing at him, the warrior screamed in pain before his head flew off of his shoulders thanks to a lightsabre swing.

He saw Tahiri jump beside him and deflect a volley of splinter fire aimed for his back, he then turned, grabbing the young girl and positioning her behind him in time to block a thrown powerblade. The Grand Master and one of his former apprentices ended up back to back, moving around in a circle and deflecting splinter fire from their ranged enemies.

"Would it help if I fought with one hand?" Luke asked as he deflected a trio of rapid splinter rounds.

"It was a spur of the moment thing master" Tahiri replied with a slight grin "I didn't know that they were so short tempered"

"I'll give you this Tahiri" Luke muttered "You at least know how to catch an enemy on the wrong foot"

"I get that from my Yuuzhan Vong half master" Tahiri replied as she tapped the shaping scar on her forehead with her freehand "One of several advantages that came from the forced shaping"

Luke only nodded, knowing that the emotional scars of that time still remained, even if only a little in the young girl and in unison the two spun, each one sidestepping a charging Incubi and dispatching them to whatever they called the netherworld. The battle ended a few minutes later as one of the Banshees towered over the last Dark Eldar and, grabbing him by the hair pulled his head up and slit his throat with her witchblade. Luke and several of his Jedi, except Jacen winced at the act but said nothing.

It was then that Luke felt it, beyond those doors was a dark presence different to that of the Dark Eldar, a presence that he and his Jedi knew very well. There were dark force users beyond those destroyed double doors, Dark Jedi perhaps.

"Master Skywalker" Tahiri said a little urgently as she came towards him.

"I know" Luke replied, his voice tense and serious "I sense them too"

"What are you saying Mon-Keigh" one of the Banshees asked a little pointedly. It was only then that Luke and Tahiri noticed that they were surrounded by the surviving Banshees, their weapons unsheathed but no aggressive moves being made. Jacen however stood unmoving, his arms folded and his eyes scanning the surrounding force.

"There are more than just your dark kin beyond those doors" Luke said steadily, completely unnerved by the liquid steel bladed swords arrayed against them "I sense our own dark kin beyond those doors as well. Your Dark Eldar Lord has a contingent of Dark Jedi with his revenue"

"Impossible" the Banshee replied as she lowered her sword by a tiny fraction "The Dark Eldar are nothing more than raiders, murderers, rapists and incredibly violent to anyone not of their faction. It is highly doubtful that they would make an agreement with an outside group, especially an outside order from a galaxy that they had just entered"

"Maybe" Jacen said, the first time he had spoken since entering the Craftworld "Maybe not, since the birth of the second eye there have been a lot of supernatural occurrences taking place in our galaxy. Goings on including people simply vanishing into thin air, massive space storms and anomalies all over the outer, expansion and mid-rim regions and the revival of proven dead beings. Plenty of Jedi and other people have been resurrected, why not a few Dark Jedi, or even Sith"

Luke could only nod, his mouth set in a thin line. Dark Jedi were one thing, those bearing the title of Sith were a completely different story and a far deadlier force. Jacen and himself he was confident could take any Sith but Tahiri was a different story, she was a competent fighter and force-user but no where near the calibre of confronting a proper Sith Lord, she had never faced one before.

"If our hunch is correct Banshee" Jacen continued a little tauntingly "Your going to need our help, facing a few Incubi is one thing, fighting a Dark Jedi is something a little bit more different"

------

Her very eyes were shinning red with warp energy, the ruby red orbs and whites behind them vanishing as she began mumbling ancient incantations laid down millennia ago by her ancient ancestors. The very oxygen surrounding them was catching fire, the flames swirling and bursting forth, an eerie red in colour. The Dark Eldar warriors surrounding her were thrown away as she swung her staff in a sweeping arc, their armoured forms catching fire as they flew through the air.

She spun around, her swinging staff catching a surviving warrior in the head, grinning in the sudden snap, signalling the breaking of her opponent's neck. She then spun around again, seeing the form of the Dark Eldar Lord standing at the other side of the arena, surrounded by a group of six Incubi and another being in the background, its face covered in shadows, its body hidden in a draping cape. Something in the back of Leda's mind was whispering to her, warning her that this person was not one to turn your back on.

The Dark Eldar Lord was as intimidating in appearance as she expected, his mesh armour was similar to that worn by his underlings. Only heavily modified with blade like protrusions sticking out of his shoulder guards and his helmet, a black cape was draped around his shoulders and his right hand was resting on the engraved hilt of his own power-sword, sheathed in a scabbard which was made out of black wraithbone with a mass of white and silver runes of the old language covering it. He was a powerful psyker, the Farseer could feel that and the power from both the Lord and the cloaked being behind him unnerved her.

The Dark Eldar Lord raised his hands and clapped them, the sound resounding through the chambers. On the floor was the still burning body's of thirty Dark Eldar warriors along with the six paralysed forms of her Seer council, four males and two females whom she would trust with her life, who had jumped to her defence and were overrun as a result.

"Impressive Farseer" the Lord said as he stepped forward "I can see why you were named a Farseer of this Craftworld, you have the same passion and pride that made the Siam-Hann what they are today!"

"I am sure your not here to simply talk" Stormwind replied, her voice full of pent up rage and disgust at the person who had lead the mass invasion of her home and the murder of many of those she was tasked to protect "Archon…"

"Darkblade" he introduced, a malicious grin behind his helmet "And you also cut to the chase. Yes I am here to borrow you and your Seer council for a while, but don't worry, I'll be sure to return your bodies once I am finished!"

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we will have to continue by force" the Archon replied uncaringly and with a wave of his hand the black cloaked figure ran forward, its robes trailing it like a black shroud. It jumped high into the air, too high for any normal being to jump and came down upon her. Before the Farseer knew it she heard the sound of a _snap-hiss_ and a two meter long crimson blade of light appeared which flickered and bent like it had a life of its own. The Farseer brought her staff up to protect herself and watched with surprise as the blade wrapped itself around her staff and pulled, sending it flying from her grasp and into the robed figures waiting hand.

It then tossed her staff aside and unleashed a jolt of whitish blue lightning from its gloved fingertips. Leda was just able to bring up her hands and create a barrier in time, the lightning smashed into it with a near deafening bang. The barrier became visible as the lightning was deflected, a crimson red shell. Once the lightning dispersed the Farseer raised her right hand and let loss a volley of warp fire.

The robed being was just able to get its arms up in time, the dark red flames smashed into its arm guards and gauntlets making it fly backwards. It somersaulted in midair and came down in a crouch, skidding backwards several feet by the force of the impact. Its hood flew back, showing the being's features. A pair of feminine emerald eyes starred at her through a black face covering veil and a head wrap, getting to her feet she let the cloak slip away from her shoulders showing a her form covered over by light black armour with white, web-like markings.

"Dark Jedi" Leda muttered beneath her breath, it was the only way to explain it, the completely foreign armour, the lightwhip she held in her hand, the psychic powers which definitely didn't originate from the warp. It had to be a Dark Jedi, only problem was how she ended up with the Dark Eldar.

"I am guessing that I am not the first force-wielder you have come across Farseer" the Dark Jedi said calmly as she circled around the Farseer "I am Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith"

"Lumiya" Leda muttered to herself "Yes I have heard of you from Jedi Mara-Jade Skywalker, a former pupil of Darth Vader and later Darth Sidious. You made a name for yourself during the Negai Crisis as the puppet master pulling the strings during the conflict"

"Yes that would be mostly true" Lumiya replied as she snapped the crimson lash, causing a snap which burnt the wraithbone floor "Strange that the little Jedi would give such a fair summary of my dealings"

"That was the edited version" Leda replied as she too started to circle around the Sith Lady, all this taking place near the watchful gaze of the Dark Eldar Lord, who watched the skirmish taking place with interest. Ever since she and her few dozen Dark Jedi appeared on their world they had shown off their powers and psychic abilities, killing the raiding parties sent out after them one after the other. Eventually they made a few treaties with a couple of mid-ranked nobles and lords, gaining protection in exchange for their services. Darkblade was one of the lords and so far, he hadn't regretted it. However he was still willing to kill her at the first sign of betrayal, as strong as she was she was no match for the Incubi arrayed around him.

The Sith lady struck first, swinging with her ignited lightwhip, aiming to take the Farseer's legs away from her with a precise swing. Leda dived forward, missing the lashing light blade by millemetres before landing in a roll and reaching out with her free hand psychically called her staff to her. The pole flew across the room and into her waiting hand just in time to block the whip, the crimson blade once again wrapping around the weapon. The Farseer grinned and pulled with everything that her own personal strength and the warp could supply her, the Sith flew forward and met the pole, which was swung into her abdomen and sending her corkscrewing sideways across the room, before landing in a heap, skidding to a halt.

"What a disappointment" Darkblade muttered before motioning to his six Incubi, they nodded and drawing their power-swords ran forward. Two Dark Jedi appeared behind him, essentially taking the place of his Incubi as they charged towards the Lightling Farseer, who fell into a defensive stance as the Sith Lady flipped back to her feet, snarled and started running towards her again, the crimson whip whirling and twisting above her head.

As the first wave of three Incubi jumped her, they were immediately assailed by a trio of force-pushes which threw them several meters in the air, bouncing painfully of the ground and skidded to a halt. Lumiya and the three remaining Incubi in turn skidded to a halt and turned to see three Jedi and six Banshees charge into the room, lightsabres and witchblades spinning in their hands as they ran.

Besides the sudden situation Lumiya found herself grinning behind her veil, things were indeed going as planned, she was expecting her old flame and now hated foe Luke Skywalker to show up sooner or later. She spun to the Farseer and swung her lightwhip, aiming to wrap it around her waist and cut her in half. Only problem was that she was no longer there, she was flying backwards into the waiting arms of Skywalker who calmly caught her.

"Lumiya" Luke said flatly as he released the Farseer.

"Skywalker" Lumiya snarled as she began to move forward, watching with interest as Luke mirrored her movements and began walking confidently towards her. The very chamber seemed to be brought under the incredible pressure of their two force-presences as they collided, their wish to fight each other after so long clearly palpable in the air.

In the blink of an eye both participants vanished in blurs of motion and reappeared several meters above the ground, crimson red and ice blue blades colliding and sparking. As the two disengaged they vanished again, reappearing on the ground several meters away, their two lightsabre blades colliding again in a hail of sparks. Quickly Lumiya disengaged her lightsabre, somersaulted backwards and raised her gloved hands, releasing several blasts of force lightning upon Luke who weaved his lightsabre expertly, deflecting the lightning blasts into the walls and the floor, leaving charred black marks on the wraithbone.

While the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and the acting Dark Lady of the Sith duelled each other the chamber around them turned into pure chaos as the Incubi screamed war-cries and charged the Banshees and Jedi, who broke into a jog, slowly speeding up until they came into a dead run. Jacen ignited his lightsabre which shone green while Tahiri pulled her belt from around her waist, she then flicked her wrists and the 'belt' went rigid, it wasn't a belt, it was an amphistaff.

The Farseer backed her charging warriors and allies, unleashing a series of warp fireballs into the air which changed direction and dived down towards the Incubi. The elites of the Dark Eldar dived and somersaulted out of the fires path, just missing the volley in time and right into the weapons of the Banshee/Jedi defenders. They growled and brought their own blades down to deflect and block the incoming blades.

From the other side of the chamber the Archon and the two Dark Jedi guards seemed to understand each other and drew their weapons, lightsabres ignited and a Punisher blade came to life as the three warriors charged into the fray, the Archon running at inhuman speeds while the Dark Jedi jumped high into the air, defying the laws of gravity by running across the walls, bypassing the main skirmish and diving towards the Farseer, their lightsabres alight with crimson light.

Grinning behind her helmet the Farseer began to slowly dance and spin, holding the edge of her staff with one hand and tracing the tip into a circle around her. Bright red flames trailed the tip as she moved and as the Dark Jedi fell upon her she released a controlled burst of fire, encompassing them and setting them alight. One took the brunt and fell backwards to the ground, his entire front charred black, making him unrecognisable. The second fell into a roll, hitting the ground on his back and rolling to his feet. He quickly disposed of his smoking black cloak and swung his still ignited blade at Leda.

The last surviving Dark Jedi was definitely a male, a near human of some description. His skin was a greenish-yellow in colour with dark green freckle like tattoos centred around the bridge of his angular nose, his feral eyes were a sickening shade of yellow and his dyed blue lips were set in a snarl of contempt.

The crimson blade was quickly blocked by the Farseers staff, she then reached out with her free hand and called a singing spear to her hand, the ancient and holy weapon began to clank against its restraints, tearing itself free and spinning through the air and into her waiting hand. She then spun, batting away the lightsabre and swinging with the spear, the old weapon was blocked but the Farseer continued to spin, her two weapons spinning in her hands. She was too fast for the Dark Jedi and pierced the tip of her spear through his chest, killing him on the spot.

The Banshees had taken care of the Incubi while she was busy battling the Dark Jedi but their own numbers had fallen from six to three, not by the now dead Incubi but by the heavily armoured form of the Dark Eldar Lord. The Archon stood surrounded by the surviving Banshees and the blonde haired human, parrying strikes from blades and the strange living staff that the Jedi wielded with his own Punisher. Meanwhile the Jedi leader and the Sith Lord were still fighting their intense lightsabre battle, their forms nothing more than blurs as they parried and struck at each other, manoeuvring around each other with somersaults and rolls.

The battle was won, the Archon and his temporary Sith ally were all alone now but something just didn't feel right, this entire scenario had the feel of a trap, or a diversion. Suddenly the Sith known as Lumiya disengaged from Luke Skywalker and somersaulted in midair, landing a full twenty meters away from the battle.

"What are you doing Mon-Keigh" Darkblade shouted angrily as he dodged a witchblade.

"My apologies Archon" Lumiya replied as Luke touched down on the floor "But I must terminate our little agreement"

Before the Archon could muster a reply he imploded. No warnings, no taunts, his armour just seemed to implode around him, he screamed a strangled scream as his own blood oozed out of openings, slow sounds of cracking symbolised his bones and armour shattering under the sudden pressure of gravity. But the attack didn't come from Lumiya, Luke knew that she was incapable of such feats of force-mastery, he turned around to see Jacen standing to the far side of the chamber, his right hand held into a fist and a sadistic smirk on his face.

"Jacen" Tahiri asked horrified by the sudden usage of dark side energies by a man that she had considered a brother had just struck out with. Jacen simply turned and set a gaze of steel upon her before she suddenly flew through the air like a rag doll and collided with a pillar with such force that Luke heard her bones crack. The girl slumped to the ground, still alive but only just.

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**33 ABY: 1 Year Ago**

Jacen stood on the command deck of what looked like an _Imperial-class _Star Destroyer. Overlooking a mass of black armoured warships that he recognised as Chaos Cruisers and Battlecruisers, all chasing after a small fleet of Alliance star destroyers and cruisers, standing beside him was Lumiya, decked in her light armour battle-suit.

"There is no need to worry Jacen" Lumiya said as she overlooked the losing battle "This ship has full use of a cloaking device so we won't be seen, and I have about twenty Dark Jedi cloaking this vessel from any of their vile warp sorcerers"

"Why have you brought me here?" Jacen asked mildly as another Star Destroyer, _Republic-class _silently exploded.

"Simply to point out a fact" Lumiya replied "That the Alliance are losing this war, even with the Imperium's assistance and their precious Jedi leading them it will only be a matter of time. The western expansion region will fall, effectively separating the western Outer and Mid-rims from each other. Bespin, Hoth and so many other important planets will be effectively cut off. It won't stop there. These demons will continue to push forward into the Mid-rim and then the Outer-rim and finally the Core. And you know the old saying"

"He who controls Coruscant controls the Core and he who controls the Core controls the galaxy" Jacen replied with irritation, reciting an old military saying that strategists had used throughout history "I know the old military styles"

"Once Chaos breaks to the core, not if, when they break through" Lumiya pointed out "They will have control of the galaxy; the rest will be a mopping up mission"

"So you think that the Sith will have a better chance at defeating Chaos?"

"I know we will have a better chance at beating them Jacen" Lumiya replied "For all of the Jedi's good traits they do not have the ruthlessness to face Chaos in the open, their rules and the way they live by is what will get them killed"

"The Jedi defeated the Sith dozens of times, they survived the Yuuzhan Vong" Jacen replied, even though Lumiya's statement did make sense.

"Yet all of those times they just managed to pull victory from the jaws of defeat" Lumiya pointed out "That will not work on an enemy like those that come from the galaxy where the Imperium hails from. Even if the Alliance repels the forces of Chaos there will be others. The Necron, Orks, Tyranids, even the likes of the Eldar and the Tau could spin around and stab you in the back. If Chaos doesn't destroy the Alliance then the Imperium eventually will. Either way under the government we are in now this galaxy will soon be facing occupation, and innocent peoples and races be they humans or aliens will be massacred for either not accepting their rule or for simply being what they are…can you live with that, Jacen Solo"

Jacen felt like replying, like mustering some sort of retaliatory response but the words stuck in his throat. Deep down he felt that Lumiya was correct. But would the galaxy be any better off under the rule of the Sith. Lumiya seemed to catch onto his thoughts and sighed.

"A number of wormholes have opened up between the two galaxies, I have been chosen by my master to be the leader of the exploration team" she put a hand on his shoulder "You don't have to answer now, but I will be expecting an answer when we meet again"

------

**Present Day**

"So that is your answer" Lumiya said calmly "You made the right choice Jacen"

"Jacen" Luke asked in shock, his tone radiating sorrow and betrayal "Why?"

"Because the Jedi and the Alliance are not strong enough to weather this approaching storm Uncle" Jacen replied flatly, his eyes suddenly beginning to turn into a shade of yellow "Even if the Alliance defeats Chaos then what, another enemy from the other galaxy will show itself, whether it will be Orks, Necron, Tyranids or even the Imperium itself" he turned to face Luke, his eyes and face set in stone "I am sorry uncle but as it stands the only way to meet the enemies of the other galaxy, the only language that they will understand is that of aggression and destruction"

"Well said Jacen" Lumiya replied "And with that my mission has been completed, there is no longer a need to remain on this accursed vessel"

"You think we will let you go after all of the death and suffering you have helped bring?" one of the Banshees asked vehemently.

"Why yes" Lumiya replied with her voice full of humour "But I tell you what, you and your sisters seem to still have a lot of pent up aggression. You fought bravely against a handful of Incubi and Dark Jedi so here is a parting gift" she snapped her fingers and sixteen crimson coloured lightsabres snapped to life, the eerie light casting a crimson glow on the darkened roof "My parting gift, sixteen Dark Jedi…although I must say I was saving these for the Archon and his Incubi dogs"

Several things happened at that moment, the Dark Jedi fell from the ceiling, the Eldar and remaining Jedi braced themselves for the battle to come, Lumiya and her new apprentice turned their backs and started walking towards the exit where a small honour guard of three black robed Dark Jedi appeared.

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"That fool!!!"

"Father" Leia asked worriedly as Anakin suddenly looked down at the polished black floor, his fists balling up so tightly that they were turning white. Across the channel the High Admiral also looked on, both intrigued and confused. Anakin ignored his daughter's question, the Eldar admirals inquiring glance, the sudden nervousness that seemed to descend upon the bridge like a blanket from its crew, both force-sensitive and force-blind alike.

"That stupid, gullible, idiotic, self-righteous, Sithspawning fool" Anakin growled, his entire form beginning to glow with blue light so bright that it blinded all those who looked upon him, before Leia could ask the question again Anakin Skywalker had vanished from the bridge in a flash of bright light.

At that moment Leia ignored the High Admirals sudden bombardment of questions and channelled all of her psychic talent into the force, checking on her family. Han and Luke were fine, Jaina, Mara and Tahiri were injured but not terribly, Jacen was…dark, he was covered with darkness like it was a slick liquid. She found herself gasping and falling to her knees, her last remaining sons force-signature causing tears to run down her face.

One of the revived Jedi rushed to her side, asking her if she was alright but the princess ignored the mans question. Jacen Solo, her son had turned to the dark side just like Anakin had so long ago. At that moment she understood the former Sith Lords sudden anger.

------

A flashing light appeared in the middle of the wraithbone floor, blinding everyone that was within it. Even Lumiya and Jacen who had just reached their honour guard at the end of the chamber turned around to see what the commotion was. Dark Jedi who were diving towards the surviving Jedi and Eldar suddenly stopped in midair as if they hit a steel wall and were likewise thrown aside at near impossible speeds, crashing into the walls, leaving craters in the immaculate wraithbone and slumping lifelessly to the floor, their bones splintered beyond repair.

As the light faded the sound of chillingly heavy breathing could be heard, breathing that chilled Lumiya straight to both the bone and the circuits. She slowly turned to see if she was just imagining it but there he was. The flowing cape, the nightmarish armour, the mask, it was him, it was Lord Vader, except instead of the armour being black it was now an immaculate white.

The thought long dead former Dark Lord of the Sith starred straight at them and even Jacen Solo felt the temperature of the chamber fall by several degrees just by his presence. Maybe it was an effect that he had on the force but everyone, even the Eldar and their precious Farseer seemed to feel it, for they shivered for some reason that eluded them. In this form, this man was death.

"Jacen Solo" Anakin boomed with that same mechanical voice that would make even the most hardened war veterans jump "You may be my grandchild, but know this, if you truly accept the ways of the Sith. If you do anything to my family, _our _family then I will kill you" Anakin folded his arms across his armoured chest and just stood there, looking to all like an unmovable and foreboding foe "You still have a choice Jacen, you haven't let the darkness rule your life just yet. You can still change your mind, we will still be here. Remember that!"

"Thank you grandfather" Jacen replied, his voice cold and flat "But I have made my choice" and with that himself, Lumiya and the three surviving Dark Jedi simply vanished in a puff of black smog.

A few moments after they vanished a mass of Eldar Dark Reapers and Guardians charged into the chamber, their weapons cocked and ready for a battle. Behind them came the surviving Jedi and Clone troopers, half carrying, half dragging the dead and wounded. Jaina and Mara were among them, accepting the support from the Clones. They too were surrounded by a crowd of Eldar Guardians, their shuriken catapults ready to kill them at the slightest sign.

"Lower your weapons" Leda commanded.

"Farseer" one of the Guardians asked, slightly confused.

"I said lower them" she repeated sternly as she began to walk towards the columns of Eldar troops, the three surviving Banshees flanking her as she walked "Is that any way to treat our guests?" as the Eldar soldiers lowered their weapons they parted for her to approach the group of clones and Jedi, stopping in front of a barely conscious Mara-Jade and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder "I don't think it would be wise to just kick you off our home with the amount of wounded you have, do you?"

**There we go, finally I got it finished, and sorry it took so long everybody. As for the comments on Jacen, well ever since I spoiled Sacrifice for myself I've just wanted to rant at him for some time and it felt great to do it. It appears that my little forum is also really starting to kick off, about time! **


	49. Pieces of a Puzzle

_**Chapter 48**_

_**Pieces of a Puzzle**_

**Writers Note:**

**Sorry for the waiting people, I've been partying at University for three days straight and just want to get some sleep! My halls are great, the people are friendly, the only two problems with this place is one, the fire alarm which goes off at 3am, three hundred people at least drunk and pissed off and secondly the fact that it don't have wireless. Here's a chapter I'm proud off, enjoy!**

**------**

Macragge was a world located within the eastern sectors of the Imperium territories, located within a sector known as the Ultima Segmentum, it was the home planet of both the infamous Ultramarines chapter and their legendary Primarch, Rouboute Guilliman. The planet was a bleak, mountainous world with most of its four hundred million inhabitants located in the more fertile low-land regions.

Because of its standing as an Astartes home world the planet was one of the most well defended in its sector with a mass of orbital defence platforms and a half dozen _Emperors Wrath-class _space stations orbiting the brown planet, large spire shaped structures three kilometres long and a half kilometre wide, armed with lines of lance and plasma batteries, a sizeable hanger holding a swarm of starfighters and docking arms for large ships the size of an Imperial cruiser.

The defences on the ground were just as impressive, large fortresses made of brown stone were dotted across the landscape. Many of them were built into the mountains covering the planet, strategically placed around the major cities and towns. The defence forces of the planet included tens of thousands of Imperial Guard, twice that many PDF troopers and roughly a company of Ultramarines to protect the main fortress of the planet.

The main fortress was located on the highest mountain range of the planet, overlooking the world's capital city, known as the _Fortress of Hera _it was the main garrison of the Ultramarines on the planet and so was where the planets space marine contingent was stationed. Its towers and ramparts reached up high into the sky, in some cases vanishing within the cloud cover, at the tops of these towers and fortifications were a mass of lance batteries, plasma turrets, las-cannons, heavy bolter turrets and rail-guns

Deep within the walls of the legendary fortress was a store of knowledge of the Ultramarines, the halls were made of the same brown stone with a mass of marble statues depicting ancient heroes of the chapter from Librarians and Chaplains to Brother-Captains and Brother-Sergeants. In the centre of the fortress was a massive hall, made of the same brown stone with thick stone pillars keeping up the kilometre high ceiling. Along the two hundred meter wide hall were the statues of past Chapter Masters and Chief Librarians, standing tall and proud with their legendary weapons held firmly in their hands, the statues depicting them made of solid marble.

Beyond this grand chamber was another, known as the Temple of Correction it was kept within a protective shell of adamantium steel and was where an ancient throne of marble resided. Sitting on this great throne was one of the most well known and respected beings in the history of the Imperium, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, held within a stasis field at the very moment of his death, the same throat wound that the traitor Primarch Fulgrim had inflicted upon him still visible.

He had been here for many more millennia than he wished to count, trapped within this stasis field, near death but not quite there. The wound in his throat where Fulgrim had cut him still much in evidence, he had used his psychic senses to keep a watchful eye on the planet and the entirety of the Ultramarine Empire, just like his father did, only on a smaller scale. For countless millennia he had watched as threat after threat came from the unknown sectors of the eastern fringe from Orks and Chaos pirates to the newly arrived Tau Empire and the Tyranid Hive-fleets. He wished so much to exit this stasis field and join his brothers in battle once more and cursed the galaxy and himself that he could not.

He was about to lose hope of ever being released from this marble prison when he felt something at the edges of his psychic vision. A single flame appeared in the far distance, a flickering light that over the last few months began to increase in size and strength until he couldn't ignore it any longer. As the flame became stronger a psychic voice whispered weakly in his mind. As the voice increased in strength the Primarch began to feel his wounds start to tingle.

_Guilliman_

It was the first time that the psychic voice that had been whispering within his mind had made any kind of sense. He recognised the voice almost immediately. It was the voice of the man that had created him and his fellow brothers, it was their father, it was the emperor.

_Father_

_My son, it has been so long_

_Yes, yes it has_

_The time for your rebirth is at hand my son. It will happen much sooner than you think._

_Father?_

_My power is growing. Our Alliances with another galactic empire have proved to be most beneficial. Within the next few years I will be able to walk among our people once again._

_That is great news father_

_It is _The emperor confirmed. _My powers have also increased to the point where I can heal life threatening wounds…including yours_

_What does this mean Father _Guilliman asked.

_By tomorrow my son you will walk again_

------

Located deep within the northern sectors of the Imperium, in the segmentum known as the Segmentum Obscurus was the planet, or rather the ruins of the planet of Caliban. The first home world to the zealous and proud Dark Angels legion it was bombarded by a crusade fleet led by the Dark Angels own Primarch, Lion El'Jonson when he found that the planet's garrison of Dark Angel space marines, a full half of the ancient legion had been seduced by the forces of Chaos during the Horus Heresy.

The battle ripped the original home world apart and turned it into a massive barren asteroid where no life could exist on its surface, at this the planet was renamed The Rock. While no life could survive on its charred and pulverised surface, under the surface was a different story. Deep within the bowls of The Rock was the underground chapter monastery of the recovering Dark Angels space marine chapter.

The fortress monastery of the founding chapter was similar to that of the other main fortresses of the other founders. The interior walls were made of grey stone with lines of ancient statues made of marble, depicting the ancient heroes of the chapter. Further within the underground fortress, passed the living quarters, medical wings, armouries and chapter library was an ancient prison where the enemies of the Dark Angels were kept, these included the captured members of the Dark Angel marines who had turned traitor or The Fallen as they were called. The list of prisoners also included numerous criminals from across the segmentum as well as alien prisoners who would be of better use alive than dead, these alien prisoners included an Ulthwe Farseer whom the Inquisition wanted.

Deeper within the monastery was a chamber, defended by a shell of adamantium it held within its reinforced walls the most precious treasure of the entire chapter. A treasure that many of the marines except for the acting chapter master and chief librarian didn't know off. The Primarch of the chapter, Lion El'Jonson was within this chamber, in a state of hibernation within its walls, ready to awaken when he was needed again.

That time was coming much sooner than the sleeping Primarch realised. In the primarchs dream, or rather a nightmare he was on his knees, his ankles and wrists chained to the black ground. He was watching a series of events that he had never forgiven himself for, the emperor's last battle against his favourite son Horus. He wasn't able to make it in time to save his father and he blamed himself ever since.

The sound of footsteps brought his attention away from his nightmare, to the familiar form of a man walking steadily towards him, dressed in armour made of pure gold and encrusted silver. He held a long bladed power-sword in his hand, no, a possessed blade which crackled with incredible power.

_Father_

_My son _the emperor returned the greeting with a grin.

_How is this possible _Jonson asked as the chains holding him down suddenly began to disintegrate under his father's psychic pressure, likewise the images of the ten thousand years past battle of holy Terra also began to fade, leaving nothing but blackness in every direction. Only the emperor remained visible, glowing with heavenly light.

_The time is drawing near for us to rise again my son _the emperor said. _The time has come for the Imperium to rise to providence once again._

_Father I am unworthy to be at your side _Jonson said suddenly. _I failed you when you needed me the most, when you needed my strength, my sword, I was not there._

_You are still blaming yourself after all this time _The emperor said, shaking his head, he sighed and caste a steely gaze upon his guilt ridden son. _Get a hold of yourself, you could not have helped me, could you speed up your journey through the warp to Terra? Did you have the Alliance hyperdrive at that troubled time? _

_No_

_Then stop acting like it was your fault!!!_

_Father_

_It was not your fault; it was mine _The emperor all but shouted. _I should not have left the front lines, I should have sensed the presence of Chaos manifesting itself and put a stop to it right there and then. If I did then all this would have been avoided, it was my arrogance that was my downfall my son. Not yours!!!_

Lion El'Jonson diverted his eyes from the steely gaze of his father, suddenly finding something very interesting on the floor, if there was a floor. A few moments later his father, the Emperor regained himself and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, forcing his sons eyes to focus on his once again.

_Awaken my son _he said simply. _Gather the Dark Angels chapter and go to Terra, they need your guidance more than ever. Even know after all these years they blame themselves for their brothers fall from grace. They should blame themselves no longer._

_Father_

_Awaken_

Within the hibernation chamber, in the very core of the Dark Angels monastery, Lion El'Jonson, Primarch and chosen son of the Emperor of Humanity opened his eyes for the first time in countless millennia.

------

Within the royal palace of holy Terra the emperor of man stirred in his golden throne. At the moment that was the best he could do, his growing powers had awakened Lion El'Jonson. His growing powers were healing Roboute Guilliman. This was putting a strain on his own regeneration but it had to be done.

Out of the twenty Primarchs nine had fallen to Chaos either by their own will or by his own arrogance, they were sadly out of his reach. Another two had simply vanished during the Heresy. He had no idea whether they were alive or dead. And nine had remained strictly loyal to him, out of those nine three had perished in the fighting that had followed, one had been fatally wounded, another had gone into hibernation. That left four, four who remained loyal to him but their locations remained unknown.

Over time his powers would continue to grow, over time he would be able to find all of his loyal sons and not just those who were stationary. The bacta was working, slowly but surely. Under normal circumstances with the Imperium secure for the time being he would have just relaxed in his life-supporting golden throne and waited for the healing liquids to do their job.

Sadly he did not have the luxury. Something on Mars was also stirring, something that was evil in its purest form. An evil that he was having trouble pinpointing, every time he searched the red planet with his warp abilities he would not be able to find it, there was something about this deity, something that made it immune to anything of the warp. The only reason he felt it was because of his most basic psychic abilities and from those abilities he sensed that this creature would be awake long before he would be healed, he needed to speed up his rejuvenation, but how?

He spent months pondering this very question, searching throughout both galaxies for a possible answer. Finally he heard whispers, rumours spreading throughout the two known galaxies. Rumours of a group of immortals awakening from a twenty five thousand year slumber, these immortals were not of the warp, they were not from another dimension but of the force, that inner power which derived from all living things. He heard rumours of one who could do incredible miracles with healing, even going as far as raising the deceased. While he considered that unrealistic he was intrigued by these rumours, sensing a shred of fact to them.

As he dived further in he began to learn more, searching through the warp and finding a fleet that owed its elegance to none of the powers of this galaxy or the other. The minds of most of these beings were well shielded and guarded from all outside, except of course from someone of his power. Carefully he bypassed all of the mind shields of the force-psykers on board this small fleet of vessels. Names and images appeared in his minds eye, showing him the leaders of this force.

Names such as Revan, Exile and Sasha came to his minds eye, organisations within the fleet known as the Jedi Knights, further still to his surprise was a chapter of space marines, a small order of battle sisters and Tech-priests. He felt that many of these beings where human or near-human but he also felt aliens among their number including Tau, Kroot, Eldar and a number of others that he did not recognise, possibly from the unexplored regions of the galaxy or from the second galaxy.

He was intrigued by these beings, especially by the fact that they had a full chapter of his own space marines as well as other Imperial organisations. He wouldn't be surprised that they probably had contacts and spies across his empire. He dived into the space marines well guarded minds and found that they were still fiercely loyal to him and the Imperium but also had a warriors bond with these Jedi and their higher masters as well. The Jedi themselves and the mass of other beings onboard were similar in that they meant no harm to the Imperium or his followers.

Smiling he pushed the information aside, interesting but not why he was here. He continued searching through the vessels of the independent fleet, hoping to find some shred of evidence that this Immortal healer existed or if she was simply myth. He found a strong presence, stronger than many of the others within these ships, it was a she and she was unaware of his presence. She was too far away from him to teleport so instead he found the minds of the pilots of the fleet and subtly directed them to Terra, making subtle suggestions too many of the leaders as well to make sure that there would be no trouble.

A few hours later and it was done, he released his hold on the warp, weakened by the mental exertion of powers he had not used in millennia. He would wait until the ships were within range and teleport the one he seeks to his throne, the others he would order to wait a safe distance. He did not wish their destruction and he sensed that they would be valuable allies in the future.

------

The lights of a thousand candles flickered in the darkness, their bright orange flames casting an eerie glow upon the large chamber they were in. Other than the flickering lights of the candles there was no other light in the room and that was the way it was supposed to be. Revan sat in the centre of the chamber, his arms folded and his legs crossed in an old meditation style long forgotten to the Jedi of this era.

In his mind he was sitting in darkness, nothing above, below or around him. His mind was clear and awaiting a flicker of life to reach out and brush his consciousness, he waited for some time before finally a presence brushed his mind and the slender figure of the Exile appeared before him, her long blonde hair let lose and flowing down her back.

"Let me guess" she said with a grin spreading across her delicate and beautiful features "You've been summoned as well?"

"Pretty much" Revan replied "And it looks like we're not alone"

Another being appeared behind Keira and started walking calmly and confidently towards them, like Keira this woman was human and had a slender build but unlike her the newcomer had long brown hair tied up in a long ponytail. Her eyes were a deep brown and her features were pale but beautiful. She was dressed in a brownish red jumpsuit with knee high leather black boots, on her black belt was the hilt of a lightsabre and a curved gold sheath holding the blade of her own possessed sword, an ancient weapon that Revan and Keira both also possessed.

Both turned to regard her but while the Exile bowed respectfully Revan found himself grinning, his heart jumping at her presence which he had missed for so long. In the blink of an eye she had vanished and appeared before him, knelling and looking into his turquoise eyes, a smile of her own curving her lips. In another heartbeat they were kissing passionately, breaking away only when they couldn't hold their breaths any longer.

"Bastilla" Revan said almost dreamily as she fell into his arms and rested her head against his chest "I missed you"

"I could tell" she replied breathlessly.

"Oh man" Keira muttered as she turned her back on the happy couple "Get a room why don't you"

Both Revan and Bastilla were blushing just as another handful of individuals appeared, their sudden appearance bolstering their numbers from three to nineteen. All of them were beings whom had gained knowledge and passed through trials tougher than what a mere mortal could take, making them into beings stronger than that of any living or past Jedi or Sith master. Together they were the Sannin, immortal beings who had released their restrictions upon the force and could use it to its full potential.

"Well it appears that he has some very important news" Revan murmured "To call all of use together like this"

"I should think so" his daughter said as she walked calmly towards her father "It is dangerous to call us all together like this, Chaos has gotten stronger with the arrival of their new god and cloaking ourselves individually in proving more difficult"

"Where is Atton?" Keira asked suddenly, worry etched into her voice to find that her husband was not here.

"He is too close to the Eye of Terror at this time" Boa-Dur replied apologetically "It is too dangerous for him to join us in this link, the forsaken would be upon him like moths to a flame"

Keira bowed her head, her worry and sadness that Atton was not here carving its way through the forces currents, out of all present she, Revan and Sonya were the only beings safe from the warp because of being surrounded by so many Jedi. The others were taking a greater risk.

"Nineteen out of twenty ain't bad" Athura Ban said with a small mischievous grin crossing her purple face, her lekku slowly swinging from side to side as she tilted her head "What's with you guys, you don't call, you don't write. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were all avoiding meyaa"

"Now why would we do that" Shado Vao said sheepishly just after he snuck up on the older but still lavishly beautiful Twi'lek and made her jump by suddenly putting his hands on her shoulders. She spun around and lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"You miserable sneaky-" the former Sith master turned Jedi started before she was caught in a sudden kiss, which she leaned into after her initial surprise, her lover always had the ability to surprise her both inside and outside of the bedroom. The other seventeen immortals hid smiles and turned around to give the two some privacy.

"Are you lot really Sannin" a voice muttered playfully as a final figure appeared before them, his presence so strong that it dwarfed all of the others, in fact it was so strong that it shielded all of them from the dim yet still potent presence that Chaos had as its power tried to find them, pushing it further and further away, making a surprise attack by force-hunting dream daemons, known as _Dream-Eaters_ impossible.

"Master" Revan said as he came down to a knee, his eighteen fellow Sannin following suit "You have summoned us for a reason"

"Yes" the shadowed being said "Things are being set into motion very quickly, the destinies of the First Immortals, Sannin and the Jedi both under us and the Grand Master of the other galaxy will soon be intertwined with that of the Emperor, his sons, both Primarch and Senshi, the Imperium and the Alliance" the shadow stopped for a brief moment, as if gazing into the souls of each of them "You are my children, the sons and daughters of the First Immortals and we will protect you and the Jedi as we can…The Healer will be called to the Emperors fortress soon and I want you, Revan, Keira and a handful of your most trusted Jedi to go with her. I will make it so whether the Emperor likes it or not"

"I knew something didn't feel right" Revan muttered as realisation came to his face "I felt a strong, yet very well hidden presence. The emperor appears to have become impatient"

"It is not a matter of impatience" the shadow replied flatly "Something is about to happen at Mars, something that will resound throughout the galaxy. A Necron star-god known as the Dragon is awakened in the depths of the red planet, his power is sending shockwaves throughout the galaxy, attacks on fringe worlds by Necron forces are becoming more frequent, and in some forgotten tomb-worlds they are awakening"

"Mars" Bastilla muttered quickly.

"In fact it is getting so strong that it is threatening to shatter my crystal prison" the figure spoke, his voice serious yet tinged with excitement "I wish to challenge him and see how powerful this star-god is when compared to the first Force-user in existence"

------

His powers were growing

His grasp on the galaxy was tightening

His followers were awakening

Soon everything will be in place

And the galaxy will become lifeless once more

The Dragon, one of the four Star-Gods of the Necrons lay asleep in his metallic coffin, feeling the constant life energies of the living across the very star system, the home of humanity, the life here was so dense that it should be impossible. He took in a breath of air, revelling in the tangy scent of metal as it entered his lungs, he was getting stronger.

His bones had just been covered with a layer of grey scaly skin, his organs coming back one by one and starting up, a pair of wings were slowly emerging from the bones, dark grey in colour and leathery with talons sharp enough to dice the strongest metals appearing. Slowly the scaly skin was covered with a layer of living armour which gleamed supernatural silver, engraved with ancient and forgotten black runes. His gauntleted fingers felt the hilt of his ancient sword, created within the depths of the Necrontyr's ancient and terrible sun.

A pair of eerie green eyes appeared in the shadows of his helmet, just recently covering half of his face, the rest appearing as fragments, furthering the armours progression. At this rate he will be at full power within a matter of months, his forces were slowly converging on the central region of the Imperium, awaiting his powers to reach their peek, then a battle the likes of which has not been seen here in so long would begin and would not end until Terra and her surrounding planets lay in ruins, void of all life, or when he dies, which is very unlikely.

After the destruction of humanity he would move on like a plague to the Eldar, especially the descendants of Kharne that bloody handed god which had imprisoned him within these walls because he could not destroy him, weak, insolent, prideful fool. If the Eldar god of war was still alive then he would find him and rip him apart. Then there would be the other two Star-Gods whom were awake within this galaxy, his revenge on the Nightbringer and the Deceiver. The Deceiver especially would be the sweetest of all his future conquests, the Chaos Gods would follow, no matter how many there were, they were no match to his warp numbing abilities.

Little did the Star-God know that far below him was another chamber, its walls, floor and ceiling seemingly made of crystals of green, blue, red, yellow, orange and a swath of other beautiful and mystifying colours. A single gem lay in the centre, its cloudy innards laced with gold and silver. Suddenly a tiny crack appeared on its immaculate surface, slowly spreading across the entire crystal. Is exploded, releasing a sudden fog of gold and silver mist.

As the mist began to fade a throne made of a mass of multicoloured gems and crystals appeared in the centre of the chamber. Its beauty only matched by its mystery, a powerful being once sat here and sat here again. A figure sat, slouched rather on the throne, human definitely, a simple mortal, definitely not. He opened his eyes, which shone unnatural green and let out a heavy breath through his nostrils when he saw that he was naked. He snapped his fingers and his body was garbed in a simple tunic and trousers with knee high black boots and leather gloves, a sword appeared, leaning against his throne, crackling with power and boredom.

_So you want a fight too my old friend? _The being asked psychically, his eyes closing and his face unmoving. His hair was jet black with streaks of silver which stretched to shoulder length, the pupils of his eyes were a soft, yet supernatural green which seemed to glow softly with hidden power, his physique was muscular, but not too muscular as not to make him unattractive, his face was ruggedly handsome with stubble.

"Well" he muttered under his breath before rising from his throne and sending a powerful message resonating through the force, knowing full well that his opponent could hear him "I'm here Star-God. Come and get me!"


	50. Fateful Meetings

_**Chapter 49**_

_**Fateful Meetings**_

Her eyes flickered and then opened, bright light assaulted her eyes forcing her to close them again with a groan, she creaked them open again by just a crack, allowing them to get used to the light so that she could see. A jumble of noises came at her incoherently, making her delicate long ears twitch and her head pound. Instinctively she grabbed a pillow and buried her head under it, quieting the noises by just a fraction until her senses healed themselves.

After a moment her senses of hearing and sight returned and she focused on the noises closest to her hearing which was snoring, gentle snoring. She opened her eyes fully and sat up stark upright in her bed. Grimacing as an aching pain shot through her body. She whimpered and cursed under her breath before looking at the source of the snoring.

Alana Varne, now seventeen years old sat in a chair beside her bed, her head lay on the white sheet, propped up by her arms with long blonde curls spilling over her slender shoulders. Ishta found a smile crossing her face before she subconsciously stroked the young girls, no young woman's strawberry blonde hair. She had never fully trusted humans, but Alana and her master were rare exceptions.

"She has visited you ever since you were allowed visitors" a voice said from the doorway, she looked up from the sleeping human girl and found her heart skip a beat. Gabriel Sabbath leaned against the doorframe, dressed in a simple tunic and pants, his lightsabre hilt ever presently hanging from a black belt around his waist, he smiled warmly before starting to walk into the room "Welcome back Ishta"

"Welcome back" Ishta asked questionably "What happened?"

"You went into a coma for the last six months" Gabriel replied as he slowly walked towards her, his face showing his worry "What do you remember?"

Her pure white eye brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to access her most recent memories and frowned as they came up hazy "We were battling a Chaos raiding force on a fringe world. I tried to sneak up on their leader and…" she suddenly flinched as a flash of near agonising pain and the sounds of shrill screaming, her screaming filled her head. A flashing image of the sorcerer came before her, starring through her as if she were not even there. His eyes seemed lit by a sinister and supernatural fire which made her blood run cold. She wrapped her arms around herself, willing the nightmarish images to go away, she had fought enemies on a dozen planets from the human Imperium to the Orks and even the Necron. But in all her experience nothing prepared her for the raw hate, the raw unnatural and corrupting power that the forces of Chaos could unleash upon a chosen victim.

She gritted her teeth as the images continued on regardless of her attempts to push them away, she continued to try to push the images into a small corner of her mind and lock them away so she would never have to think of them again. All of her training, all of her physical and psychic ordeals that she had to endure to become a warlock of Ulthwe, her near blind following of the warrior path hadn't prepared her. The sorcerer's voice, scratchy and rasping bellowed through her skull, making her head thud with more vigour.

_An Eldar amongst us lowly humans, how interesting, and Pathetic!!!_

He looked upon her as if she were transparent, but his words were biting, full of hatred and a maniacal glee at watching her suffer. Her forehead, where he had inflicted that wound upon her started to throb painfully. An image flowed through her mind. The sorcerer, suddenly turning away from her and threw her like a rag doll to be impaled upon an exposed steel girder. At that moment she thought she was going to die. But something grabbed her away from that horrible fate.

She suddenly remembered herself being held in a pair of strong arms, her senses falling in and out of reality she softly and weakly called out a name, a name that her subconscious mind had chosen for her.

_Gabriel_

_I'm here Ishta, I'm here_

She suddenly found herself being held in a pair of strong arms and opened her tear filled eyes to see Gabriel wrapping her in an embrace that was both protective and compassionate.

"I'm here Ishta" he whispered softly and reassuringly "I'm here"

She could have pushed away. She could have listened to what her entire race had considered the humans for thousands of years and pulled away from him. Instead she found herself accepting his comfort, burrowing her head into his shoulder and letting her tears soak his tunic, a soothingly warm balm of force energy encompassed her and pushed the painful and traumatic memories away, throwing the images of the ruinous battle and the sorcerer who violated her mind into a black abyss, never to bother her again.

As Gabriel eventually put her back to bed and pulled the covers over her she felt him plant a gentle kiss against her forehead, she found herself smiling weakly at his affection. Suddenly the feelings that she had felt every time she had laid eyes on him became far clearer, he cared for her and she felt the same.

"Thank you" she whispered before she drifted off into a gentle sleep, a sleep completely free of nightmares of daemons and death.

Gabriel smiled, and turned to see Alana lounging in her chair, a mischievous grin on her face. Gabriel sighed inwardly and began to worry about the glint that his apprentice had in her eyes.

"Now long have you been awake?"

"Since Ishta ruffled my hair" Alana replied as she jumped off the seat to her feet, that same grin still plastered onto her face.

"Don't grin like that Alana" Gabriel replied with mock annoyance as he walked past her towards the outside corridors, ready to give Ishta the sleep she desperately needed "Your face may become stuck that way"

------

The chamber was fairly dark, illuminated by the dim lights of glow orbs, this was where the small expeditionary force had been assembled, a force that Revan had chosen personally for this mission.

Standing to attention in the middle of the chamber was a line of space marines, their black and silver armour gleaming in the low light of the chamber. This was the elite squad of the _Black Fists _chapter, the first squad of the first company, the first on the battlefield and the last to leave. They were armed with an array of weapons from their standard bolter and combat knife to chain swords, power-swords and bolt pistols.

Too one side were the cloaked and foreboding figures of four Jedi masters, these four were members of Revans guard. Jedi Knights who had mastered many arts of the force from the mastery of all elements, psychic abilities, meditation techniques and trances, even going as far as mastering immortality itself, each of these four were five hundred years old at least. Mainstay of this small force was three beings in particular, two of which were Sannin and the third was a member of the First.

Revan and Keira, the Grey and the Exile were the two Sannin of the group, both dressed in robes of purest white, they seemed to be a pair of haloed figures in the eerie darkness of the chamber, as compared to the black armoured space marines. The Healer also stood out from the group, wearing a simple skin tight black jumpsuit which did nothing to hide her slim yet ample curves, a cloak of midnight blue draped over her shoulders. Revan couldn't help but smirk slightly within his hood, Twi'leks were always known to be more comfortable in clothes that showed them off and it appears that an immortal like Sasha was no exception. Even the Marines couldn't help but take a quick glance in her direction.

"Gentlemen, ladies" Revan said casually "You have all been briefed about this in detail and know what difficulties may lie ahead, the Emperor of Humanity is expecting the Healer and the healer alone to appear within his central fortress. But for her safety the Master has decreed that we are to be transported along with her. We are not here to start a fight, we are simply here to act as guardians for one of the oldest founders of the force orders, so behave yourselves" he then turned his gaze upon one of the space marines "That includes you Brother Drantiss"

"Sir the last time was an accident"

"Yes destroying an entire outpost was indeed an accident" Revan replied dryly "Just keep your grenades in your satchels and force preserve us if you do use them try not to fire them at a mountain of fuel barrels"

"Yes sir" Drantiss replied, sounding a little disappointed and drawing laughter from the other marines as a result. It was another few hours of silence before the Healer was engulfed in thick blue light, a few moments later the marines and force-psykers were also engulfed by flowing green light and also vanished.

------

It was done, the Master opened his eyes and sighed inwardly, such use of the force had taxed him more than he thought it would, still very weak from his awakening. Besides himself he grinned, but the Dragon had also just awoken, the two of them would be in the same boat, so to speak. If he was going to destroy the Dragon it would have to be now, while he was at his weakest.

Sighing he closed his eyes and released himself to the force, allowing its power to flow through him, rejuvenating his psychic abilities. He then sent his awareness out into the force, seeing a dim chamber made out of a type of mineral that he had not seen before, a metal alloy that glittered in the low light. This alloy covered the floors, the walls, even the ceiling was made of this material. A coffin, made of the same material lay in its centre, at the top of a set of steps, its surface covered in hieroglyphs and ancient runes.

He opened his eyes to find that he was there, in that very chamber that he had seen in his mind. Except that surrounding the coffin this time were four figures cloaked in robes of crimson, the armour that was showing was a gleaming silver and midnight blue. The four individuals turned to him and to the Masters surprise showed that they were half machine, their faces and bodies were covered by a mass of mechanical implants.

"Intruder" one spoke, his voice amplified by the mechanical breath mask covering the bottom half of his face. His robes rustled and then parted, allowing his left arm to reach out with a small hilt, he pressed the rune with his thunb and the grip extended, turning into a long staff. His three compatriots followed suit, activating their long tech-staffs and falling into a fighting stance, slowly approaching his location.

The Master grinned and drew his possessed-sword from its brown sheath, throwing the scabbard aside and experimentally swinging the blade with his hand. He could kill them with a flick of his thoughts, but he wanted to work the kinks from his muscles. As the first Tech-Priest swung his staff the Master swung his sword and both weapons met, the staff shattered against his blade allowing it to continue its swing and tear through his shoulder, cutting straight through like a knife through warm butter.

The sword seemed to sing with delight as he ducked, missing another swing from a staff, he spun while still crouched, jamming the blade of his sword into the second Tech's abdomen and cutting outwards, spurting blood. Bringing himself to his feet he spun again, taking the head off the third Tech with incredible accuracy. But he was still sluggish and the fourth Tech-Priest took full advantage, catching him on the back but failing to penetrate the skin. That's when the Tech noticed that his staff was a few millimetres off his skin, there was some kind of barrier in place. Before he had a chance to examine it further he was suddenly telekinetically thrown across the entire circumference of the chamber, hitting and denting the far metal wall with a bone crunching thud, he then slumped limply to the ground unmoving.

Master raised himself to his feet, the scabbard flying into hid outstretched left hand, he sheathed his possessed sword as he rose and held the scabbard firmly in his right hand. It was only then with the immediately dangers taken care of that he noticed shapes lying across the floor, bodies. Dead bodies of men and women, their forms shrivelled and mummified, to a casual observer it would appear that these people were dead a long time but the Master knew better. These people had their life energies sucked from their bodies, making them age. He had seen the victims of such techniques many times before, but never done to this scale.

Growling at the old and terrible memories he carefully started to step over the victims towards the coffin and eventually lifted himself clean off the ground by two meters and floated over to the top steps at the centre of the chamber. As he landed on the steps he saw the coffin lid slid open, it was then thrown from the casket, its metal surface twisting and bending in midair before it hit the floor.

The figure within floated up out of the coffin, its grey scaly skin partially covered in armour that shined like it was made of liquid metal, the armour was incomplete with patches of exposed flesh here and there. Its face was mostly covered by a helmet with a crown of long bladed spikes protruding from the top. A pair of dragon-like wings shot out of his back, looking like they were two, maybe three times longer than his body if they were fully stretched, the thin membranes of the wings were the same shade of dark grey as its exposed scales and ribbed with thin fingers of bone that extended from the wings front edge, forming a line of several razor sharp talons.

"An impressive display" the Dragon muttered as his feet touched the floor, seemingly creating ripples on its shinning liquid metal surface, his wings fluttered and stretched before wrapping themselves around his body, acting like a natural cape "Defeating four Tech-Priests within the blink of an eye"

"My apologies but if you don't mind can we just get to it" The Master asked as he drew his sword and experimentally swung it around, testing its weight for the millionth time since he had earned it. He had this sword for thousands of years and in all that time it was always the same weight, its blade never dulled and the spirit within never faltered, always there to answer his call when he needed it.

"A pity" a sword seemingly retracting from his outstretched, clawed hands, his hand gripped firmly around the black hilt. The wings spread out like a foreboding shadow blacker than the darkness surrounding them "Perhaps getting rid of one of your power early would be best, it is a shame you would have been a worthwhile ally"

Before the master could respond he was thrown back with such force that when he hit the far wall he blasted straight through the liquid metal and crashed into the wall behind, leaving a deep crater in its thick stone. He groaned and sat up, seeing that he had been blasted into some kind of a storage house, old hulks of tanks and walkers of many different designs lay in columns, many being rusted beyond repair.

He slowly got to his feet, stumbling slightly as he rose to his full height. This Star-god was certainly one to be feared, his power was only a tenth of what it could be yet he didn't even see the strike until it struck him. He grasped the hilt of his sword and walked forward just as the Dragon floated through the recently created hole in the wall.

"You survived?" the Dragon asked mockingly as he once again settled on the ground.

"I manage" the Master replied in a relaxed tone before raising his sword into the air and swung it downwards, as its tip struck the ground a powerful wave of wind blew outward, catching the Dragon and sending him careening back. He blew through the hole and smashed through the opposite ends wall, skidding across the floor of the chamber beyond and crashing into the armoured side of an old tank.

As the long asleep Star-god stood up the Master was right in front of him, surprising the time old Dragon and using the edge of the hilt smacked him in the jaw, sending him flying upwards and crashing through the ceiling. The Master fell into a crouch and jumped up, following his opponent up the several floors he had just threw him through.

------

When the Healer opened her eyes she found herself in a cavernous chamber made out of grey stone with a great many tapestries imprinted on the walls and statues standing to the sides. As she gazed at the spectacle in wonder she heard the whirring of mechanical joints and turned in time to see a massive humanoid machine towering over her by dozens of meters, impressive beam cannons were attached to its arms with a duo of anti-infantry heavy bolter turrets attached to the shoulders. It looked down upon her, making the twenty five thousand year old immortal feel like a bug waiting to be squashed.

She stepped back and flinched as a great light escaped the Titan's eyes and engulfed her, sensors she realised. As soon as the light passed her by it died away, she looked up, expecting the monstrous war machine to level its great cannons at her and tear her to shreds.

"Sasha!"

She turned to the voice in time to see a mass of figures surround her, snap-hisses and the chambering of bolter shells told her that it was her guard of Jedi and Space Marines. Revan was in front of her, his stance that of quick attack with his lightsabre held firmly in his hands.

"Are you alright milady?"

"Yes Revan I am fine"

"Good" Revan replied, not taking his eyes of the gold armoured machine standing before them. He cursed under his breath "I should have expected a Titan to be here"

A great, ground shaking rhythmic boom brought their attention to the other side of the chamber, another gold armoured Titan had arrived at the scene, its armour gleaming in the light of the chamber. The sounds of multiple footsteps and the clanking of armour brought their attention to the sides of the chamber where lines of armoured warriors were appearing, power-swords and bolters held in their hands, they stopped in two lines and chambered bolter rounds into their weapons, raising them at the visitors, ready to mow them down when the order was given.

A Titan in front, another behind and the Emperors Custodians to their left and right, they were surrounded and if it came down to a fight they would be slaughtered in a second. To his relief the Custodes suddenly lowered their weapons and the front Titan turned his back to them to open the great kilometre high set of double doors behind him.

"The xeno woman goes in alone" one of the Custodes said gruffly, disgust in his tone as he spoke, the design of his armour and the power-sword he held in his hands telling Revan that he was a Brother-Captain "The rest of you will remain here!"

Revan felt like mustering some type of retort, knowing that the Custodes would shoot her down on sight in any other situation. Before he could however a hand gently grasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, it was Sasha and as Revan turned to look at her he saw her head shake in a negative

_No foolish actions Revan_ she sent to him, her voice soft yet firm in his mind.

Before Revan could retort she started walking out of the line around her towards the recently opened door. Revan watched her go, eyeing the Custodes and Titans for any dangerous signs, to his relief there were none and he let out a breath as she walked through the great doors, which closed behind her with a bang.

------

As the great grey stone doors creaked shut behind her she could see nothing but pure darkness, then floodlights came to life, illuminating the entire chamber in a near blinding light. Her eyes hurt from the sudden change in light but she quickly adapted to the change.

_Welcome to Terra daughter of the Force _

A voice boomed in her mind, making her wince slightly at the power that resonated from it. The chamber was dominated by a bulbous machine made out of pure gold with a mass of cables and tubes attached to it, pumping liquids, bacta she realised into it. Within this life-supporting machine she sensed was the being that had called out to her, one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, the Emperor of Man.

"Thank you my lord" she replied with a deep bow "It is an honour to stand in the presence of such an ancient and wise being"

The emperor nodded psychically, his consciousness seemed to descend upon her own mind like a blanket, making her skin tingle and her mind relax with his mighty and benevolent presence. Not even the Master, oldest, wisest and strongest of the First could compare to the power that resonated from this man like water flowing down a stream. She felt truly humbled to be in his presence, this man was to be respected but that did not mean that she would blindly submit to his wishes.

"You have called me here for a reason my lord" she said, rising to her full height proudly.

_Healer _he began. _Ten thousand years ago when the Great Crusade was bringing the empire of men back from the brink of annihilation we came upon a planet, a world that was once a colony under the control of a race of alien beings possessed by the forces of Chaos. We freed the world from their oppression and upon searching through their archives we came across an ancient text that was not of their language or culture. It was presented before me by Primarch Sanguineous of the Blood Angels who felt that it was too precious to burn. _

"What was within this text my lord" Sasha asked as she sat cross-legged on the cool grey stone floor, listening attentively to the Emperors story.

_This text spoke of a place in a galaxy far, far away when man was still young and barely took to the space ways in our own galaxy. It spoke of an order of beings who could manipulate the elements around them to their will, of an energy field that they called the force. This text described the Immortals who had brought this order into being and the struggle they endured in holding it together _he paused for a moment and Sasha found herself leaning forward slightly, too interested now to caste it aside, if what he was saying was true then there was a surviving document on the founding of the Jedi Order. _It went on to speak of a fierce war that was fought between themselves and a force of evil intergalactic invaders known as Chaos. This war ripped through their home planet and by the time it was finished the Immortals known as the First were all either dead or imprisoned._

Sasha nodded, she remembered that time all to well, and it would be forever burned into her memory. Too many of her friends, her pupils, her children, her family had perished in that war. She remembered the faces of the fallen and felt a tear fall down her check but quickly pushed it away, cursing her sudden showing of weakness.

_I offer you this ancient record for the Jedi of the present _the emperor continued. _And the promise that as long as I rule the Imperium the peoples of your home galaxy will not be invaded, your home is in enough turmoil as it is without Crusade fleets spilling from the Terran wormhole._

"And in return you wish me to heal your wounds" she replied curtly and smiled, the movement seemed incredibly graceful "My friends are not to be harmed"

_Of course_ the Emperor replied, his tone making it sound like it would not be done any other way.

"When would you like to begin?"

_When you are ready too_

**Thanks for waiting everyone. A lot of people are wondering when I'll bring the Yuuzhan Vong back into the story and the answer is quite a while yet. Once I finish the Chaos Wars and Revival story arcs. Changing the subject how was the beginning with Gabriel and Ishta?**


	51. Dragon Vs Master

_**Chapter 50**_

_**The Dragon versus the Master**_

With incredible finesse the Master flew through the last hole and landed on solid ground. He stood and surveyed his surroundings, finding himself in a massive cavernous chamber filled with line upon line of war machines. Ancient walkers, tanks, motorcycles, transports and artillery were among just the few that were laid out in front of him, their armour and interiors rusted beyond repair, making them useless hulks.

A faint warning flashed through his mind and he jumped aside, dodging a tank as it soared through the air and crashed into the ground where he once stood, pieces of shrapnel and metal breaking off its form. He landed on his feet and jumped again as a motorcycle came spinning towards him, hitting off the ground like a pebble on the waters surface, pieces of metal breaking off it as it bounced.

The Dragon stood several meters away from where he once stood, his eyes alight and angry, a snarl curling the exposed section of his mouth. He pointed towards an old two legged battle walker and swung his arm. The machine suddenly skidded across the floor and flew into the air towards his falling form. The Master performed a somersault, giving his blade more momentum as the walker came careening towards him and cut down, slicing the flying walker in half with the blade, the debris of the war machine flew on either side of him and he felt a searing pain on his cheek.

As his feet meet solid ground he felt his cheek and looked at his hand, seeing blood his eyes widened. He got careless. Growling he heard the laughter of the Dragon, rasping and deep, echoing through the chamber and bringing a cold chill up his spine. Besides himself he shuddered.

Several flashes brought his attention back to the Dragon in time for him to see several spear tips of green energy soar towards him. He dived to the side, releasing his own spear tips of condensed force lightning. The two burst of energy meet in the very centre and exploded, creating shockwaves in each direction. Tanks and other vehicles were thrown away from the explosion of energy like leaves caught in the wind, creating mangled piles of metal in every direction.

The Master corkscrewed in midair and raising his hands released a full salvo of force lightning upon the Dragon. Later generations feared the use of such aggressive force attacks, thinking of them as methods of the dark side. That was not completely true. If the practitioner used the lightning for a purpose other than through his anger, to protect someone for example, then force lightning could be used as easily as a force push.

The long jagged lines of bluish white lightning flew towards the winged silhouette but instead of striking the Dragon it smashed against the side of a thrown tank and exploded, taking the vehicle with it. Shrapnel tore and whistled through the air, striking off the floor and the nearby vehicles. He was just able to intensify his shield as the shrapnel disintegrated off it, flashing blue. The Dragon stood unmoving, the shrapnel simply bouncing off his armour and scales alike.

He landed on his feet and broke into a run, holding his possessed sword with his hands and readying for a proper strike, the blade sung in his mind, granting him extra bursts of speed as the Dragon released blast after blast of compact green energy, dodging them with sidesteps. He came up beside the Star-God and swung his sword, the blade sang as it cut through the air, connecting with the Dragons side and stopped.

It clashed against the side of the Dragon, but failed to cut through its incomplete armour. Growling he spun, swinging his blade and cutting at its opposite side, the same result followed. The Dragon smirked and grabbed the blade with his clawed hand as the Master tried again. A flicker of movement and the Master flew backwards, crashing into the far wall and leaving a crater. As he tried to pull himself out he was assaulted by another deadly blast of power, then another until the wall broke through and then he was flying again.

He crashed into a high backed chair and fell backwards with it, landing hard on the floor and rolling. He groaned and spat up blood as he came to a stop, holding onto his ribs and considering that several may be broken. He slowly got back to his feet and with a subconscious thought called his sword to him. The blade flew through the air and was caught by his outstretched right hand.

With his right hand he firmly held the grip of his weapon and with his left he telekinetically lifted bits and pieces of debris, weapons from ancient spears and swords to war-hammers and battle-axes floated into the air and shot forward towards the approaching form of the Dragon. He swept his hand and the weapons hit against an invisible wall and bounced harmlessly away, some of the rusted weapons bent and snapped under the strain.

Undeterred he raised his hands above the Dragon and concentrated on the Force energy on the spot above him. Blades of pure blue light appeared and crashed downwards, aimed towards the Dragon, they hit off the floor with a great series of near blinding flashes, booming like thunder as they hit the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust.

He lowered his hand, breathing heavily from the psychic exertion. He leaned against his body spanning sword and waited for the dust to settle. Hoping to gain at least a temporary respite. He didn't get the chance as a blurred shape shot from the dust cloud, grabbed him by the throat and held him several feet from the ground.

"That won't work" the Dragon scoffed "I am immune to all warp powers. Psykers trembled before my power as theirs was rendered useless. The very Eldar gods shivered at the mere mention of my name!"

"Really" the Master asked, his voice rasping yet mocking, his mouth curling up into a smile, blood trickling from the corners "Then what' that?"

He heard a section of his armour chip and looked at the source, his left arm had been torn from the elbow. For a moment the Dragon simply starred at his stump, shocked that a psychic attack had struck him. His eyes widened with rage as he returned his murderous gaze upon the Master and threw him against the far wall.

"What did you do?!"

"Its called _Blade Storm_" The Master replied with a grin "I made it up myself. Really good for taking out clusters of enemies"

"Not that" he shouted angrily "How did you hit me. No warp attack can hit me!!!"

"See that's your first mistake" the Master replied "You assumed that I was using this warp energy when I was using the force"

"The force" the Dragon asked as he stretched out his stump, a new fore limp shot out from his wound, covered in a sticky green fluid. The Dragon flexed the fingers of his new limp experimentally "I don't know what this force is but it doesn't really matter. You are strong if you can cut me, but against a god you will fail"

"I guess so" the Master replied as he got to his feet and starred right into the pitch black eyes of the monster "But then I guess I'm lucky because I'm not fighting a god"

"What" the Dragon growled in barely controlled rage.

"You heard me" the Master replied with a smug expression "You are no god. You are simply an immortal who has become powerful in your millions of years of life. I guess if I was as old as you then I would be similar to your strength"

"You insolent little bastard child" the Dragon shouted in a fit of rage as he came forward, grabbing the Master by his collar and hoisting him into the air, he then threw him across the full circumference of the room, through the wall and into the side of a tank, crumpling its armoured side like paper as he hit it "You are nothing, a flickering light in the dark, I am eternal, I am a god. I will never die. Every time I rise the galaxy burns and runs with the blood of billions in a cleansing!!!"

"Cleansing" the Master asked between ragged fits of coughing and spitting out blood "Is that what you Star-Gods call mass genocide?"

The Dragon didn't reply as he approached him, instead he unsheathed his black sword from its scabbard and raised it over his head, a maniacal grin on the exposed part of his mouth. He was done talking.

He brought down his sword and was surprised to see it clash with the master's. The immortal grinned and batted the black sword aside. Flipping to his feet and slashing upwards, cutting deep into the thin membrane of the Dragons right wing, black blood stained his swords blade and the Dragon screamed, staggering backwards from the sudden attack.

He regained his footing and swung his own black bladed sword, aiming for the humans face. It caught the bridge of his nose and left a shallow gash. This time the master staggered backwards, blood flowing from the cut down his face. He spun, aiming to cut the Dragon in half and found that the Star-Gods own blade blocked him, the two blades crackled with energy. A shockwave of raw power was released when the swords struck and left several gashed in the far wall.

"Where is this power coming from" the Dragon growled through gritted teeth.

"Guess this is my adrenaline kicking in" the Master replied "A little going away present for you 'Star-God'. You may kill me but there are dozens of others!"

He batted the blade away and swung his sword, cutting deep into the Dragons shoulder, his blade sang as it quenched its thirst, spilling more of the Star-Gods blood, another shockwave was released and added another few gashes to the walls. The Dragon staggered backwards, gripping his bloodied side before screaming in anger and striking at him with renewed power.

As the master deflected the Dragons blade he was hit by the Star-Gods right fist into his cheek, sending him corkscrewing in midair. Somehow he landed on his feet and jumped, bringing his right foot around and smashing into the side of the Dragons armoured head. He too started corkscrewing in midair, but stopped a few feet off the ground, floating back to his feet within the blink of an eye.

He snarled and dropping his sword punched the master in the stomach, his feet left the ground for a few moments from the force of the blow and the master coughed up blood. He felt his ribs crack under the pressure and countered the blow, bringing his fists up and punched the Dragon, first on his right and then on the left side of his face. His incomplete helm cracked under the power of his fists. The master then followed up with a lightning quick kick to the Dragons still injured side, reopening the near healed wound and causing the Star-God to release him.

He landed on his feet, staggered and then jumped, swinging his right leg for a roundhouse kick. The Dragon recovered quickly, blocked the kick by grabbing his leg and threw him to the ground with such power that the floor the master fell on imploded, leaving a crater.

Stricken and in agony the master rolled to his side and threw up blood, leaving a pool of crimson on the floor. He sat up only to be met by the Dragons armoured foot to his chest, sending him skidding backwards and crashing into the far wall with a bone cracking thud.

By know he was falling in and out of consciousness. Black blotches appearing at the sides of his vision, made worse as his sense of the world around him started to blur, colours and objects seemed to mix together and lose their shapes. He was dying, he felt the blood seep from a wound in the back of his head, his lungs punctured by ribs that never broke, his force barrier had shattered an age ago and his body showed it, covered in cuts, bruises and several nasty stab wounds.

As his consciousness left him he had a single regret. He wanted to see his brothers and sisters again, one last time. The Dragon now loomed over him, hands gripped on the hilt of his blade as he held it in the air, ready to plunge it into the Masters chest.

As he brought the blade down the Master was engulfed by a great blue light and vanished, just as the Dragons black blade dug into the floor where he once lay. The Dragon pulled the blade out off the ground and looked around, his psychic senses searching for any traces of the Immortals life signature. He was no where on the face of the red planet. Wherever he went, for now the Dragon could not follow. Silently he sheathed his sword and turned, heading back towards his coffin to continue his regeneration.

------

The air smelled different he realised. Instead of the tang of damp and rusted metal he sniffed clearer yet still dusty air. Slowly he opened his eyes and willed the blotches overhead to take a shape. He saw a high ceiling. Lower than the one of the cavernous storehouse, but still a kilometre high. It was made of what looked like grey stone with a spine running through its centre, ribs of concrete stretched out from the central spine, acting as extra support.

He then heard a voice, soft and gentle call to him, a blotch of deep violet appeared in his vision and as it cleared he began to make out features, a nose, deep worried eyes of pure purple, cone like ears and a pair of head-tails cascading past slender shoulders. She spoke but it sounded miles away to him. He cleared his hearing and vision with the forces help and smiled when he was finally conscious enough to see who it was.

"Sasha-" he started but was abruptly silenced as a finger pressed against his lips, he looked up and was saddened to see that her cheeks were glistening, she had been crying.

"Shhh big brother" she managed, choking back sobs of joy to see him "You just rest. Those wounds will be healed in no time"

"How did I get…here" he persisted, drawing a choked sigh from his much younger sister.

"You were rescued from your little suicide mission by the Emperor"

"The Emperor?"

"Hush" she said, effectively ending the conversation "It will all be explained in time big brother, just rest and don't make me put a sleep suggestion on you!"


	52. The War Drags on

_**Chapter 51**_

_**The War Drags on**_

**Cato Neimoidia**

**Colony Regions**

The bridge cities of Cato Neimoidia were in ruins. Their great towering spires, connected by wide bridges were pocketed with craters and holes. Battles between Alliance and Chaos troops were taking place on many of the major bridges with starfighters soaring under and over, dog fighting with each other in incredible feats of manoeuvrability and skill. High above the large silhouettes of frigates and corvettes from both sides exchanged fire, turning the sky red with crimson red lasfire and the falling corpses of burning picket vessels.

Commander Breen of the 11th A.C.L (Alliance Clone Legion) peeked over the top of a makeshift barrier of debris and destroyed vehicles. The optical sensors of his white helmet allowing him to see the bridge in its entirety, all around him were a thin line of fifty Clones, dressed in their white armour and hefting their heavy blaster rifles.

"Here they come" Breen said over his helmet com as the next horde of Chaos Cultists and Mutants came running through the twenty meter wide exit at the other side of the bridge "Give them hell!"

As one the fifty surviving Clones aimed their heavy rifles over the barricade and opened up with a barrage of blaster bolts, the first line of Cultists were mowed down by the hail of crimson, then the second, and the third. As the commander continued to fire a crimson bolt of lasfire caught the chest plate of the Clone beside him, throwing him back from the barricade to the ground.

The Cultists continued to charge towards the barricade, ignoring their falling comrades, screaming their war cries and chants, wielding their arcane swords and laspistols.

"This is commander Breen to central HQ" he sent through his helmet comlink as he jumped down from the barricade for cover "The Halsin bridge is threatening to be overrun, request reinforcements-"

He was stopped as the Clone that took his place was thrown back by a crimson lasbolt and spun in time to see a pale skinned Cultist clamber over the barricade. He quickly drew his blaster pistol and put a bolt through the deformed creatures face and jumping back up shot another Cultist in the chest.

He whipped a third in the face with his blaster rifle and shot another with his pistol. He stood there pistol in one hand, rifle in the other, firing upon the climbing cultists as they appeared over the barrier.

"Fall back" he shouted as the Clones backed away from the wall, continuing to fire their rifles as the Cultists clambered over the barricade. The corpses of several dozen Cultists mixed in with the bodies of eight of his brethren "fall back!"

"Hold your positions" a voice shouted from several meters behind him, he turned to see a Jedi rush towards them, over a hundred Clone troopers and Neimoidian Home Legionnaires right behind him, blasters letting lose steady streams of crimson bolts.

The Jedi General rushed past Breen, lightsabre ignited in his hands as he reached the first Cultist and quickly took off his head with a quick swing. He spun, killing another four who were trying to encircle him. Breen watched in fascination, he had never seen a Jedi before, this being his first battle outside of the simulations.

Over a hundred blaster rifles were cocked, aimed and fired, unleashing a devastating array of blaster fire, Cultists fell left and right and the survivors started to flee as their morale broke. As the broken and scattering Chaos foot soldiers fled the Clones and Neimoidians retook their positions on the makeshift barrier, taking pot shots at the retreating backs of the Cultists. As the last soldier vanished behind the exit the Neimoidians let out whooping cheers while the Clones remained silent.

Breen let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding before turning to take a look at the Jedi beside him. He was human with shoulder length dark brown hair and sharp features, his lightsabre still held in his hand as his azure eyes scanned the corpse covered bridge before him.

"Commander" he said as he averted his gaze from the bridge to the Breen "Well done, I am Jedi General Jarren, your new commanding officer"

"A pleasure General" Breen said as he shook the mans hand "I am Commander Breen"

Both men suddenly ducked as the near deafening roar of low level starfighters assaulted their ears. An X-wing flew overhead, its top right wing trailing flames and pitch black smoke as it barrelled a few meters over them. A Switdeath followed, firing continuous streams of bolter shells. The two of them shared grimaces, showing their inexperience in a proper non-simulated battle.

------

**Jabiim**

**Outer-rim Territories**

Private Rigs of the 32nd Vulcan-city militia growled and looked up at the black and grey clouds high above, spewing out torrents of rain so heavy that it pelted the ground and turned the tough dirt to slick mud. Of all the times for these Chaos lunatics to attack the eastern continent they had to invade during the monsoon.

His entire company was taking cover in a small cluster of craters, positioned on the top of a ridge, silently passing cigarettes and preparing their weapons for any traitors when they arrived, not if, when. News had travelled fast to them, informing his company's captain that Captain Graham's 30th and Captain Travis's 91st had been completely overrun and slaughtered to the last man. Taking the town they were defending with them. This report was verified when they saw the flickering of flames and clouds of pitch black smoke rising from the west.

He gripped his blaster rifle so tightly that his hands went white, spat out his cigarette and peeped over his trench wall into the darkness beyond. Something was wrong. He sensed that something was wrong. The wind had stopped howling and, besides the pelting of rain the valley around them was eerily silent.

"Don't daydream Rigs" Sergeant Cutlass whispered harshly beside him.

"Something's out there"

"And don't be paranoid" the Sergeant added "I don't hear a thing"

"I'm telling you Sarge something's out there" Rigs persisted, lightly pushing up his metallic blue helmet away from his eyes to try and get a better view. The Sergeant growled but turned to the radio operator beside him, motioning for the long-range comlink.

"I need illumination on the following coordinates-"

As the sergeant harshly whispered the codes Rigs looked down, checking his blasters cartridge and trying to smooth out his long blue trench-coat. Like most members of the Jabiim army he wore a metallic blue helmet, blue and silver light armour, covered by a midnight blue trench-coat with similar coloured army pants and knee high black leather boots. A blaster pistol and several satchels containing bandages, grenades and rations hung from his black belt and his long barrelled blaster held in his hands.

A flare exploded in the dark sky, illuminating the surrounding area with red light. Black forms snuck through the slick mud, staying as quiet as possible as they trudged towards the company's position. Once their cover was blown one of the silhouettes rose and shouted a chant which chilled Rigs to the bone.

"For the Dark Gods!" the thin, pale creature cried before a blaster bolt hit him square in the chest and he fell back. The other Cultists shouted angrily and charged. Red lasfire and crimson blaster bolts lit up the night as the flare flickered and died. Rigs aimed through his scope and fired, the crimson streak hit a Cultist in the forehead, sending him falling back.

As he changed the cartridge of his rifle he heard a pained scream followed by the cleaving of flesh. He turned to see the sergeant get sliced in half by a Cultist wielding a chain-sword, blood spattering everywhere. Rigs forced his suddenly frozen joints to move and pulled the trigger of his blaster, catching the Cultist in the chest at point Blanc range.

An explosion engulfed the foxhole next to his, mincing the five soldiers within and creating a larger crater. He looked up to see a massive black form of a tank approach, tracks shrieked through the mud effortlessly, heavy armour protected its innards and three large gun barrels, one on the left, another on the right and a main gun turret on top fired deadly shells upon the company's position. Two more tanks appeared from the darkness, illuminated by the flashes of their guns.

Explosions rocked the hilltop, killing Cultists and Militia troops alike in a frenzy of fire and shrapnel. Rigs peeked over his foxhole again in time to see the terrifying armoured forms of Chaos Marines, carrying heavy bolters and rocket launchers march alongside the tanks before his world exploded around him and everything went black.

------

**Bakura**

**Outer-rim Territories **

Salis D'aar, capital city of the outer-rim trading world Bakura was a mere shadow of what it once was. Its once tall skyscrapers, which once shimmered with the rising sun, were now pocketed with holes and craters, with some partially demolished through artillery or orbital fire. Its skies which once streamed with lines of hover-cars were now silent and empty, except for the occasional dog fight.

The streets of the capital were now strewn with the wreckage of vehicles and debris from the surrounding structures. Craters dotted the streets, a testament to the malicious artillery and orbital bombardments that the city had taken over the last few months. The dead and dying littered the ground, in some places like a carpet, in others as mounds. The very streets ran red with their blood.

Skirmishes were taking place across the cities entire perimeter, christened by the echoing of gunfire, explosions and death screams. The city may be no more than a ruin but it was no where near deserted. Hordes of Chaos soldiers from Cultists and Mutants to Traitor Guard and Chaos Space Marines battled against regiments of Imperial Guard, Clone Legions, Alliance Riflemen, Stormtroopers and space marines.

Grand Admiral Alexi Daala watched the entire scene through a massive, floating holo-screen ten meters across. Her inner chamber was dark and dull with the only illumination coming from the holo-screens floating around her showing the main defence positions of the Coalition and skirmishes being fought across the entire perimeter.

Other screens showed the battles taking place in the solar system which thankfully had begun to slow. After two months of constant skirmishes their combined fleets had finally halted and pushed back the Chaos armada sent to eliminate them. The cost had been heavy for both members of the Coalition but they had prevailed and with the main Chaos armadas several dozen light years away fighting their own battles they had been granted a lull to regroup and rest.

The main battle may have ended but that turned out to only be the beginning. Chaos raiding fleets numbering several dozen ships each had started to ambush ships in the outer rim of the system, destroying transport and supply vessels that were trying to move between the space stations and the habitable planets. Worse still was that when they had finally ousted the Chaos armada they had found that Bakura was cut off from the rest of the galaxy by a monstrous blockade, so supplies and reinforcements from the still free sections of the outer-rim and colony territories could not get through.

A beeping from the arm of her command chair brought her out of her reverie. Silently she inputted commands into the arm of her chair, calling up a holographic image of her second in command.

"Yes captain" she enquired "What is wrong?"

"The Supreme Commander wishes to speak with you ma'am"

"Put him through" she replied, a moment later and the image flickered to the white uniformed form of Gilad Pallaeon.

"Grand Admiral" he greeted sternly "What is the status of Bakura?"

"The status is looking better than a few months ago sir" she replied "We've retaken control of the system proper with only a few splinter fleets to deal with. But my scouts tell me that Chaos is amassing another armada against us"

"You are the only real thorn in their side at the moment Alexi" Pallaeon replied "You're the only system in the entire invasion path that has been able to not just hold your own against them but throw them out. They'll be throwing all of their reserves at you to try and correct their mistake. How are things on the surface?"

"Not as well as I would have hoped" she answered truthfully "They have a foothold in several major cities including Salis D'aar and have slaughtered the inhabitants of several towns. Can we be expecting any reinforcement's sir?"

"For the moment Grand Admiral you're on your own" Pallaeon replied apologetically "Grand Admiral Halos is amassing a battle-group at Utupau to try and spear through to you but it will take months before he can amass enough ships. The Imperium is sending the last of their Crusade through the wormhole, once they are amassed they will be able to reinforce Halos position and push through to Bakura"

"We'll hold until then" Daala replied "What news from the Empire?"

The Supreme Commander seemed to grimace at those simple words "Complete anarchy" he replied "I've never seen anything like it since Thrawn's death. The Moff's have chosen to leave it to the Admiralty and flee to they're own worlds instead of doing what they're supposed to do"

Daala gritted her teeth, cursing the cowardice of their supposed leaders. If only the Remnant had a strong Emperor then they could end this senseless carnage. The question was who would be strong enough to rule the Empire and cast out the traitors?

------

**Deep Space**

**Outer-rim Territories**

The chamber was large and extravagant; its floor was made of black marble which was polished to a shine. Its walls were decorated with banners and portraits depicting the heroes and the symbols of the Warmaster's crusade fleet. Four men sat on high backed chairs around a table made of ancient Terran oak.

Lord Admiral Halcyon sat on one of the high backed chairs surveying his fellows. As well as himself there were two other Lord Admirals sent from the Imperium to this galaxy. First was Lord Admiral Hunt, a tall lanky man who ascended to his rank by repelling Ork waaghs in the southern territories, he was a hard man and fiercely loyal to the Imperium and the Emperor. Second was Lord Admiral Frostman, a man who led forces at Armageddon and Cadia, he was by far the oldest here and showed it with his weathered features and thinning white hair. He was also highly xenophobic. While Halcyon admired the man's accomplishments in the field he questioned the High Lords choice at sending him here.

Finally, sitting at the head of the table, with a glass of blood red wine held in his hand was Warmaster Visnik. He was a cruel, harsh and unpredictable individual who had risen to power during the last Tyrannic War. He was also a shamed man, an outcast who had kept his position only because of his family's wealth. In short he was corrupt to the core. Halcyon toyed with the idea that he and his fleet were sent here only because the High Lords wanted rid of him as they couldn't just court marshal him, he had too much support for that.

"So now Lord Admiral Halcyon" Warmaster Visnik began as he twirled the glass of wine in his hand, his eyes gazing upon the swirling blood red liquid "When do we meet the leaders of this Alliance and your xeno friends"

"I thought that it would be best that they not attend this first meeting" Halcyon began, sizing up his fellow officers and superior with a trained eye.

"Good" Visnik spat vehemently "I don't know if I could stand in the presence of one of their xeno representatives and not shoot them where they stand. All xenos are enemies of the Imperium and humanity as a whole"

"Perhaps in our galaxy my lord but here is a different story" he then opened a satchel in his belt and pulled out a data-pad "If I may?"

The Warmaster nodded absently and waited as Halcyon slotted the pad into the table's holo-projector and pushed a few runes. A large screen appeared above the table showing a major battle which occurred during the Yuuzhan Vong war. It showed Mon Calamari, Chiss, Hapan and Bothan fleets fighting side by side with human Star Destroyers against the ugly living vessels of the Yuuzhan Vong. It showed ground battles where human soldiers fought side by side and sometimes back to back with aliens of many different races.

"Heresy" Frostman growled as the screen vanished from view "Blasphemy and heresy. Living and fighting alongside such xeno scum should be more than enough evidence for the High Lords to wipe this empire from the face of the universe and bring the emperors shining grace upon these heretics!"

"Calm yourself Frostman" Halcyon replied "I have personally met the Hapan queen mother. She is honourable and trustworthy. Her forces have fought valiantly against the forces of Chaos, as has the Bothans, the Calamari and other races associated with the Alliance" he then set his gaze upon Hunt "Lord Admiral you fought alongside the Eldar on occasion during your campaigns"

"That is true" Hunt conceded "But such fleeting truces only lasted until the battles end and they would retreat beyond our guns before we had a chance to fire"

"Halcyon" Frostman said in a low and mocking tone "Perhaps your time among the Alliance has clouded your senses and better judgement"

"My senses are as clear as ever Frostman" he returned, his tone ripe with venom.

"Perhaps being among these gullible individual's has clouded your judgement" Visnik said callously, still swirling his wine glass with his good hand "These alien races may be on friendly terms with the humans now but there was a time when they were enemies"

Halcyon fell back into his chair, knowing that it wasn't wise to disagree with a Warmaster, especially one like Visnik. But he also considered the man's words. There were times when alien races suddenly rebelled against humans, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, even though they were led by a human was one such example, the Diversity Alliance was another and finally the extra-galactic threat that was once the Yuuzhan Vong Empire. Even the races that were a part of the Alliance had rebelled against human control; the Galactic Civil War was another good example.

"This Alliance does practice freedom of religion does it not?" Visnik asked simply, almost uncaringly as he brought his eyes up from his wine glass and looked into Halcyon's eyes.

"Yes" Halcyon answered.

"Then once this war is over and the Alliance takes us into their confidence then we shall send members of the Inquisition and the Priesthood to the Alliances human worlds. We will create cults to the immortal emperor and once enough support is gathered we will take them for the Imperium, we will slowly weaken the Alliance from within until she cannot muster the strength to repel one of our crusade fleets" the Warmaster surveyed the men present, gauging their reactions before continuing "Until then we must look to a more pressing enemy, and one that I would like to eradicate. Chaos"

The Lord Admirals nodded in agreement as Visnik inputted another data-pad into the holo-projector. A map of the known galaxy appeared before them showing all of the major powers in a myriad of different colours. The majority of the map was coloured green to show the Alliance with borders drawn out to represent the Imperial Remnant and the Hapes Consortium. A section to the northwest of the map was coloured black, indicating worlds that the forces of Chaos had taken and destroyed.

"First off gentlemen, we are all agreed that this tide has to be stopped before it breaches the mid-rim" he pushed a few runes while saying this, bringing up images of a star system to the east of the invasion path "Here an Alliance Grand Admiral known as Halos is mustering a sizeable force of ships to try and blast a way to Bakura and free up the Imperial and Alliance forces there, including the companies of the Blood Ravens and the Ultramarines. Lord Admiral Halcyon, how far away are you from Utupau?"

"About two days, one and a half if we push our hyperdrives" he replied, clasping his hands together as his hologram flickered.

"We all agree that the Bakura blockade needs to be broken" Hunt said as he surveyed the numbers of ships the Alliance were assembling for the attack "The Alliance are commandeering fleets from across the outer-rim for this operation. With their thousand warships plus Halcyon's six hundred it may be successful"

"At the moment we have three Crusade Fleets, each numbering an even six hundred plus in this galaxy. Admiral Hunt, you will take yours to the Remnant and link up with Supreme Commander Pallaeon to try and push their civil war to the loyalist's side. Without the remnants superiority fleets victory in the western fringe will prove most difficult"

_Not just that but he would find himself having to rely more on the Hapans if the Imperials were unable to supply aide _Halcyon realised.

"Frostman you will take your forces to Sluis Van and link up with Grand Admiral Antilles" he continued "I will accompany you there. Sluis Van is the last great fortress between Chaos and the mid-rim at large and is also the last place to launch a successful counteroffensive. It must be protected at all costs" his eyes then settled upon Halcyon "And you Lord Admiral will gather with this Halos and crash through the Bakuran blockade. The High Lords are not happy that the Adeptus Astartes contingents are trapped there, the blockade must be broken"

"Understood my lord" Halcyon replied with a slight bow before the holograms of the Warmaster and the two other Lord Admirals flickered and faded into the background, leaving Halcyon alone in the vast chamber of his battleship.

------

**Denon**

**Inner-rim territories**

Warmaster Visnik knelt by the statue of the immortal emperor, chanting the litanies and prayers that he had been taught to know since childhood. Tracing the sign of an aquila across his chest after each verse. Once he finished he bowed deeply and rose to his feet, his eyes surveying his private chambers.

"Well done Warmaster" a silky voice murmured from the shadows of his main chamber. He spun around, drawing his bolt pistol and levelling it upon the black robed figure sitting on his arm chair, her head leaning on her clasped hands "Such a stirring speech to your subordinates"

"Who are you?" he uttered warningly, his hand pressing the trigger of his bolt pistol until the slightest movement of his trigger finger would set it off.

"My name is Darth Immolious and I represent an organisation who has the same goals as you do" she replied, her voice delicate and soft "The complete eradication of Chaos from this galaxy"

"Darth…I know that name" he muttered "Ah, I remember. Darth is a title given to a Sith Lord. Am I Right?"

The enshrouded figure heaved a soft sigh before rising from the Warmaster's armchair and stepped into the dim lights. She was tall and graceful, her black robes pulled against her frame tightly enough to show her slender figure, her face was a pale white with long blonde hair flowing past slender shoulders. Most interesting were her eyes which shone with an unnatural shade of yellow, a smug, feral and dangerous yellow.

"You would be correct Warmaster" she replied, a sly grin tugging at her lips as they spoke and in a flash of movement she crossed the distance between them, took the Warmaster's pistol from his grasp and crushed it in her slender hands. Leaving the Warmaster surprised and confused as the now useless sidearm fell to the floor with a thud "If my intension were to harm you then you would already be dead"

"I see" the Warmaster replied, composing himself quickly.

"My master has a proposition for you" she began "We have in our possession an army of dark force users who hate Chaos as much as the Imperium. We cannot deploy them in open combat you understand for fear of the Alliances response but we can still be in a position to help"

"How?" Visnik asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Espionage, assassination" the Sith lady listed as she circled around the Warmaster, tracing her right hand along his face so smoothly that it sent tremors of lust throughout his form, her voice so soft that it made him want to grab and ravish her on the spot, she was beautiful and she knew it "Weakening enemy strongholds, destroying their hierarchal structure, cause infighting, intercept supply convoys. That sort of thing"

"And what does your master wish for in return for his services" Visnik asked, keeping himself in control of his suddenly lustful emotions.

"Only that once you turn on the Alliance that we may side with you" she whispered seductively into his ear "And we are given the right to annihilate the Jedi once and for all"

**Phew, sorry about the wait everyone, coursework and class exams were beginning to pick up. I thought about trying a number of different scenes during this chapter like showing battles taking place on several fronts, an introduction to the Clone Legions, the Imperium's presence in the galaxy (Sorry it took so long to get this part going but the Imperium will be fighting in the next chapter...promise) and an update to the plannings of the Sith.**


	53. Proposals & Alliances

_**Chapter 52**_

_**Proposals & Alliances**_

**Unknown Location**

**Craftworld Siam-Hann**

Anakin stood in a circular chamber which was considered completely alien to his senses. This was ironic since he had visited and grown accustomed to many alien societies in his past life, both when he was a Jedi knight and later as a Sith Lord. The room, the entire world like vessel was made of a substance called wraithbone, a material which shimmered and rippled from a simple psychic touch, which could change colour based on a person's emotion.

For a moment Anakin stood there, transfixed on this material until the wraithbone lit up like a torch above him, illuminating six chairs placed in a semicircle several meters above. Sitting on these chairs were the six Eldar of the Seer council. Starring down upon him with harsh eyes, some were difficult to read, their emotions firmly hidden behind psychic shields while others let their disgust radiate through the chamber as swirls and waves of dark colour. Anakin didn't back down from them, instead he held his head high and returned their stares.

Finally the Farseer's seat illuminated itself with the beautiful form of Stormwind, dressed in a simple set of crimson and white seer robes. Their eyes locked and memories flooded through the two of them, showing each others lives before this meeting. The Farseer sifted through Anakin's memories, how he was born as a slave on Tatooine, how he was found by the Jedi Order, the trials to his knighthood, the Clone Wars, his fall to darkness, his years spent hunting the remains of the order down, the Galactic Civil War and finally his redemption and death at Endor.

The Farseer's eyes widened once she reached his first death, she had never heard of a mortal, even one with the potential of Anakin returning from death. She schooled her expression and sifted through the last of his memories before closing their connection. She then relayed what she had learned to her advisory council of seers. Many were surprised, some frightened, others suspicious.

"Anakin Skywalker" one Seer finally said, a beautiful female Eldar with perfect porcelain coloured skin and long pitch black hair "We thank you and your forces for your…assistance in ridding our Craftworld of the Darklings"

"Assistance" another said, this one an aging male whose skin was lined with wrinkles and grey streaked white hair, his black eyes starring at Anakin with unconcealed revulsion "If that's what you can call it Seer Talinythy…I call it endangering the entire Craftworld with their vile presence. We could have dealt with the Darklings on our own Mon-Keigh, we didn't need you!"

"My apologies" Anakin replied calmly, though his dark impulses were to force choke the life out of the senile old man "But one of our own was on your Craftworld at the time of the raid. We couldn't just leave her and her newly born child. You may not have needed us honoured Seer but if we hadn't have intervened your loses would have been greater"

"Your reckless and stupid actions nearly cost the life of our Farseer and several Seers" the old man retorted before sitting back in his chair with a smug expression "But what could we have expected from your kind. You Mon-keigh are a stupid race after all"

Anakin bristled at that remark but by some miracle kept his anger in check, instead he clenched his teeth for a moment before giving a completely fake smile. That one he learned from Padme, where was his wife when he needed her? She would have been best at this.

"If we are stupid honoured seer we have a good excuse. We can blame it on our races youth" he began, his voice still cool and controlled "What excuse can you give for your arrogance old man?"

It was the old Seers turn to bristle, his very eyes were suddenly alight with warp power and his teeth were grinding together in barely contained fury "You arrogant little-"

"That's enough" a voice, soft yet carrying incredible power resounded through the chamber "You mock us with your pettiness Seer Silghall"

The old Seer grimaced and became silent, but his cold, disgusted eyes did not leave Anakin.

"My apologies for my Seers behaviour Anakin Skywalker" the Farseer began "But he has lived a long life and feels that humans are not to be trusted"

"I do not blame him for his mistrust honoured Farseer" Anakin replied with a deep bow "I was out of line myself"

"You have another reason for your visit son of the suns" she continued, surprising Anakin for a moment by using the name the ancient Jedi used to affiliate the Chosen One.

"Yes I do honoured Farseer" Anakin replied and prepared himself both mentally and through the force before he began "We wish for Siam-Hann's aide in this war against Chaos. You're experience in dealing with these daemons would be invaluable to both us and the Alliance as a whole"

The room was ghastly silent, there were no insults thrown, no words exchanged between the Seers but the wraithbone seemed to shine with swirling waves of thousands of colours, some which Anakin's sight could not register. Finally the Farseer spoke.

"We understand the position your galaxy is in son of suns" she began "But we neither have the numbers or the willpower to face Chaos in open war. Even with a galaxy-spanning empire like the Alliance beside us. I am afraid that unless our race is directly threatened then we will not interfere"

"The gateway to your home galaxy is closed honoured Farseer" Anakin began, knowing that if he heard that in his youth then he would have blurted something he'd regret and make a fool of himself, oh how living with nothing to lose for two decades could change a person "Chaos continues to overflow our territories like a raging tidal wave. At this rate, even with the Imperium backing us the Alliance will crumble and die under the onslaught. I have seen it in my dreams. Eventually once the main threat is taken away Chaos will spread and take over the last few pockets of resistance. That includes Siam-Hann as well"

Stormwind was completely silent, taking in the words from this Mon-Keigh and measuring them in her mind. Her memories returned to the vision she had when Mara Jade appeared on her Craftworld nearly a year ago. Her homes fleets fighting alongside their vessels against an unknown and terrible foe, she had shared this vision with her council of Seers. It was the main reason they had allowed Mara to stay. They had not forgotten her vision, for she felt some of her Seers express their wavering thoughts to the rest of the council.

"I feel that we may need to debate over this son of suns" she said finally "Do not take this as a good sign for we may still not fight in your war"

"Thank you Farseer" Anakin replied with a deep bow before continuing "My fleet is set to move out soon to a nation known as the Imperial Remnant to try and end a Chaos spawned civil war but I will have several of my vessels stay behind with you and move your Craftworld to a safer location"

------

Luke sat on the edge of the white hospital bed looking down upon the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. Mara lay under the opulent white blanket, her chest rising and falling with her rhythmic breathing. Their son Ben lay curled up against her stomach while little Eliza lay asleep in a makeshift crib beside her bed. He breathed out a sigh, after several hours of tearful and joyous reunion everyone but him was asleep.

Many of her wounds had been healed by the Eldar's advanced technology, the gashes had been resealed and the dark Eldar toxins had been removed from her body. Her recovery would be slow, but she would recover. On the bed to his wife's right and left lay Jaina, sleeping off the anti-venoms that the Eldar supplied her and Tahiri, her leg and ribs tapped up with bacta rap, also blissfully unconscious. Jacen had betrayed the Jedi and joined the Sith and in the room adjacent to them lay the blanket covered bodies of two Jedi masters and seven Clones. Victory had come at a terrible cost and Luke knew that it was just the beginning.

At the moment though that did not matter to him, as he saw his wife and two children together again after a year apart he felt more at peace, more happy than he had in a long time. Mara was with him again and the galaxy seemed a little brighter because of it. He would worry about the War in the Outer-rim, the Imperial Civil War, the Sith's rebirth and Chaos later.

As he felt himself finally seep to blissful darkness for a few hours he was roused by a blunt object as it connected rather painfully with his knee. He jumped up with a yelp and scanned the entire medical wing, looking for anyone who would have thrown the object, a small gimmer stick which lay on the floor several feet away from him. As he knelt down to pick up the stick he noticed a small set of green clawed feet under the other side of the bed.

He stood and slowly walked around the bed, trying to see who the visitor was before the gimmer stick flew out of his hands and spun around the bed. The little green visitor grabbed it and started laughing before beginning to move, leaning heavily on his cane while he walked.

"Sleep later you will" the little creature said as he rounded the corner of the bed and starred back up at an awestruck Luke with slightly teasing eyes.

"Master Yoda" Luke gapped before clamping his jaw shut and falling into a small arm chair beside his wife's bed. Who by some miracle of the force was still asleep with their two children.

Yoda limped up toward the chair that Luke just fell into and after a moment of comical silence smacked his former pupils left leg with his cane. The present Grand Master jumped out of his chair with another yelp, favouring his leg for the second time in the last ten seconds of meeting his formerly deceased Jedi teacher.

"Sleep later you will" Yoda repeated "Needed on the bridge you are. Let your spouse and younglings rest you should"

Before Luke could respond the little master turned and started hobbling out of the medical wing. Shaking his head at what had just occurred Luke jumped out of his chair and jogged out after the former Grand Master, letting his wife and children sleep peacefully beside his niece and his ward.

"Master" Luke began with a stutter "How did you? When did you?"

Luke's sudden stuttering had Yoda croaking laughter, stopping and leaning on his little cane to stop himself from keeling over with mirth. Luke found himself smiling slightly at his own stammering. In two days he had been reunited with his wife and his newly born child and now he runs into his former Jedi teacher, the man who had held the position of Grand Jedi Master before him. Finally after the little troll regained control of himself he explained.

"Apologize to you I do, meet with you when you first arrived I should, but need for secrecy there was"

Luke nodded.

"Gone against the old code you have" Yoda said "Given into your emotions you have, explain this to me you shall"

"Yes master" Luke replied with a nod and, taking in a deep breath started to say the words that he had been turning around in his mind since he founded the New Jedi Order "I feel that the old code was flawed in many ways. One of the worst in that code is that the Jedi were not allowed to love, the old order was supposed to be peacekeepers, watching over the republic but how could you have watched over the masses when you kept yourselves confined to your ivory towers" he gauged the ancient master, looking for any sign of emotion but Yoda's face was set in stone.

"You separated yourselves from everyone else, your predecessor of untold centuries ago stopped your knights from feeling emotions, outlawing it and turning the Jedi into magicians who the people considered more to be feared than seen as defenders" Luke continued, pushing his point home "I felt that in order for the Jedi to gain a fresh start we needed to abolish the old code, break the barriers, show that the Jedi are made out of normal people"

Yoda was silent as Luke finished his explanation, weighing the argument in his mind down to the finest detail before looking up at his former pupil again "You love her"

"With every fibre of my being master" Luke replied "And that love gives me more strength than anything else in the galaxy. Ask any one of my knights who are married or seeing someone, even those who are not and you will hear the same answer"

"Easily backfire on you it can" Yoda pointed out "Losing a loved one fills the other with sorrow and fear. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate-"

"Hate leads to suffering" Luke finished solemnly.

"Remember what happened to your father in his past life you should" Yoda continued.

"He was alone with no one to converse his feelings to but a madman" Luke retorted flatly "He was afraid of going to you for help because Jedi were not allowed to love according to the doctrine of the time. That was a major reason for his downfall master"

Yoda continued to stare into the eyes of the younger man for several moments before slumping his shoulder in defeat "Made a good argument you have" he conceded "One that my support and the support of many others you have"

Luke found himself gawking once again at the diminutive Jedi master, he had run over how this talk would go a hundred times and each time he had thought that master Yoda would have come up with some argument against how he revived the Jedi order. In all his thoughts he had never considered that his teacher would side with him.

"Surprised you I did" Yoda said with a good hearted cackle before he used the force to open the turbolift to the bridge and stepped inside, Luke following close behind.

"Completely master" Luke replied as the lift flew from the floor they were on all the way to the bridge within the time span of a few seconds. The doors opened and both the former and current Grand Masters stepped out into the controlled chaos of the bridge.

"Master Yoda" Anakin greeted with a nod from his place at the edge of the command deck, starring out into the long star lines of hyperspace.

"Knight Skywalker" Yoda returned as he hobbled beside the elder Skywalker and leaned against his gimmer stick. Luke walked up and stopped to his fathers left.

"How's Mara?" Anakin asked.

"Sleeping" Luke replied with a smile "How are things here?"

"We'll be entering the Remnants space within the next three hours" Anakin replied, speaking to both Yoda and Luke "We will set a course for Bastion and offer our help. I think its time the Jedi stepped out of the shadows"

"Agreed with this I do" Yoda replied "Stop this civil war we must or destroy the remnant it will"

------

The _Imperial _star destroyer started to slowly spin out of control as its engines exploded in a cascade of blue fire. Its opponent didn't halt the attack but instead continued firing their main turbolaser batteries until the battered and crippled destroyer exploded, spraying fire and debris everywhere. The culprit, another destroyer with the chaos eight pointed stars engraved over the old Imperial insignias continued on into the main battle.

Gilad Pallaeon, Supreme Commander of the GADF watched the battle with both great anger and almost overwhelming sorrow, how did it come to this. How did this civil war come to be? He looked out at the battle taking place around his command shipas star destroyers, both loyalist and traitor exchanged fire in close quarters. The battle had spread across the system, deteriorating into several large skirmishes.

An explosion rocked the bridge of the 19km long behemoth as it continued its advance, several consoles sparked and exploded under the strain, sending the operators attending them crashing to the floor, some on fire from the explosions, others groaning before stumbling back to their feet.

"We're in the middle of it know" Pallaeon grunted as another series of tremors assaulted his ship. A bright explosion signalled the death of another warship, traitor or Imperial, he couldn't tell, for his gaze was firmly set on the Grand Cruiser ahead of him.

"Gather the fleet" Pallaeon growled "Reform the lines and call in the reserves!"

"Yes sir"

Slowly the surviving star destroyers reformed into a tight circle surrounding the _Leviathan_, their weapons firing long lances of ice blue and crimson fire upon the surrounding ships. Five more star destroyers jumped in a few moments later and fired in unison upon a duo of traitor destroyers, punching through their shields and disintegrating their armour with the fire of their main turbolaser batteries.

Their momentum was short lived however as the Grand Cruiser flew in towards the outer destroyer at ramming speed, its guns firing streams of lance fire. The star destroyer positioned at the far side took the brunt of the attack, losing its shields within the first volley. Small explosions and fires sprouted from its superstructure, opening several decks up to space before it simply detonated, vanishing in a flash of white light.

The main turbolasers of the surviving four returned fire upon their much larger adversary, breaking off their original formation and fleeing in different directions as their gun batteries continued to fire. Their squadrons of Tie fighters and Interceptors flying through their hangers and diving towards the Grand Cruiser like a swarm of insects, only to meet a horde of the Chaos ships own fighters.

If there was one ship that the _Leviathan _needed to take out of the fight it was the Grand Cruiser, it was tearing their escorts apart with its massive guns. This was proven as another volley of lance beams shattered the shields of another destroyer and sliced through its starboard hull armour, crumpling the durasteel before detonating.

"Hard to port" Captain Natha growled "Ninety degrees, take us on an intercept course against that ship" he pointed at the Grand Cruiser and gained a grim set of affirmatives as a response as the bridge crew relayed the orders and the pilots turned the star dreadnought towards her opponent.

"Silence the guns"

"Sir"

"I said silence the guns" Pallaeon repeated angrily, gaining a fearful nod from his captain. The Supreme Commander watched carefully as the weapon batteries of the super star destroyer silenced themselves one by one "Full ahead captain, all available power to the shields!"

"Yes sir"

The surrounding traitors opened up upon them as they passed, bombarding the shields with their ion and turbolaser batteries, causing them to flicker blue. More control consoles on the bridge began to spark and explode as they were overwhelmed, alarms started to blare as the shields started to falter but still the _Leviathan _continued on its course, taking the beating that she was receiving.

"Sir"

"She's a big ship captain" Pallaeon muttered as another set of tremors assaulted the bridge "She can handle it!"

They were beside the Grand Cruiser now, the smaller but still powerful vessel firing what guns it could upon the super star destroyer. The alarms seemed to increase in volume, the shields had failed. The lances were eating through hull armour now. Several explosions that could have decimated a normal star destroyer rocked the flagship and Pallaeon found himself holding onto the arms of his chair to keep him steady.

"Sir!"

"Full stop" Pallaeon ordered briskly "Fire!"

Hundreds if not thousands of weapon batteries from main to point turbolaser and ion cannons opened up with such noise that it popped Pallaeons ears. With such a mass of crimson and sapphire flashes that it temporarily blinded him. Beam after beam of the _Leviathan's _weapon batteries collided with the enemy flagships void shields, eventually shattering them with the intensity of the bombardment. The pure magnitude of the barrage then started to eat through the adimantium armoured hull, sections were completely opened up to space, and explosions dotted the 8km long Grand Cruiser until it could take no more.

The enemy flagship suffered several catastrophic detonations across its entire superstructure, the size of the explosions covering the ship like a blanket from its engines all the way up to the tip of its shield-shaped nose before one final detonation erased its vile presence from the space ways.

"Damage report" Natha boomed.

"The main front turbolaser batteries are down, shields are completely depleted, we have several decks open to space and we've lost all power to the engines. We may be able to manoeuvre sir but not much else"

"Evacuate the affected decks and seal them off, get repair crews to the crippled weapon batteries and divert any unnecessary power to the shields" Natha shouted before surveying the damaged bridge, over a quarter of the control consoles in the crew pits below him were sparking or on fire with several officers and crew members lying on the floor, injured from nasty cuts and burns. Some weren't moving, others were screaming in pain "Get me medical teams to the bridge and all affected areas immediately. The sick bays going to be overflowing"

Another explosion rocked the ship and both the Supreme Commander and Captain looked out of the main ports to see a line of traitor star destroyers approaching them, firing continuously in a hope of silencing the _Leviathan _once and for all.

But even as damaged as she was the Super Star Destroyer was more than a worthy opponent. All of her still functioning point and main turbolaser batteries opened fire in return, destroying a star destroyer outright and crippling another. The ten survivors continued to batter the pocketed hull armour of the command ship, creating more openings. Clouds of oxygen, equipment and personnel billowed out of them to the deathly silence of open space.

Just as defeat was certain Pallaeon noticed a mass of white flashes in the distance. He quickly called up a hologram of the area of space, magnifying it to the point that he could see who the recent arrivals were. He finally found himself grinning at the wall of armour and weapons approaching them, the Imperium had arrived.

------

Lord Admiral Hunt sat on his black command chair surveying the battle taking place before him with the aide of several holo-screens. The bridge of his flagship was dank and dark with its only sources of light being glow-lamps, consoles and other computing systems which were arrayed below him, the serfs inputting commands and the astropaths hooked up to their consoles by sockets in their necks and helmets, conversing with the machine spirit.

"Has the crusade fleet arrived?"

"All six hundred and fifty seven vessels reporting in and ready for your orders sir" the head astropath replied from the console beside him "The emperor smiles on us today"

"Indeed" Hunt replied as he continued to gaze into the battle, taking in everything and nothing with his hollowed eyes. The battle for Yaga Minor was a widespread one with skirmishes both large and small taking place across the system. The orbital shipyards had been properly shielded from the Chaos led traitor attacks but it had cost the Imperials of this galaxy dearly.

"My lord the _Leviathan _is failing"

"Where is it?"

An image appeared before the Lord Admiral showing the impressive star dreadnought floating in a mess of wreckage and debris. Its once proud white hull was scorched black and in some places covered with cracks and holes, opening her up to space. Half of her gun emplacements had gone silent including almost all of the main cannons. The scars of a long and gruelling battle were prominent on her, a battle which was further in evidence by the remains of a Grand Cruiser and five of their own destroyer-type vessels.

"My lord the machine spirit is restless for a proper fight" Tech-Priest Lathar said from his own console, speaking with his battleships machine spirit. Hunt closed his eyes, yes it had been a while since he and the crew of the _Crying Saint _had seen a proper battle. His crew was restless. The entire ship seemed so tense that it was palpable in the very recycled air that they breathed.

"Power up the weapons" he ordered sharply and felt a sense of pride when he saw the crew move with the speed and precision of the professionals they were, the countless drills had done them a world of good "Raise shields, engines to full power. Take heed men for no matter where we are in the universe the emperors blessing will forever be upon us, let us continue his work to cleanse the wicked and show the vile heretics the errors of their ways. Let us show them with rivers of their own blood!"

A chorus of whooping cheers and chants almost drowned out all other noise as the men showed their support, fired up by his speech and ready to destroy the traitors until not one remained in the system. He hid a grin. Let us show the Alliance what the warriors of the Imperium were truly capable off.

"Forward Lance batteries fire"

The main batteries of the _Crying Saint _released their barrage of destructive beams, each one specially placed to clear a path between them and the struggling _Leviathan_. Traitor vessels that got in their way disintegrated under their bombardment as the battleship was joined by the guns of over six hundred of her fellows.

Eventually the _Leviathan _and the _Saint _were side by side, protected by a barrier of armour and weapons as their respective fleets joined forces, firing upon the traitor fleet squadrons even when they broke formations and fled to open space. The battle was won but the Imperium had given into their bloodlust by now and didn't stop until the last surviving traitor vessel jumped away.

By then the area of space where the battle waged was littered by the twisted wreckage of warships and starfighters, both loyalist and traitor alike. The Imperium had lost three frigates and a cruiser had suffered minor damage, but nothing that couldn't be repaired within a few hours.

Hunt slumped back in his chair as the men surrounding him began to cheer, enjoying the sweet taste of the first battle and victory that they had fought for in this galaxy, but the Lord Admiral knew that this was only just the beginning.

"Tech-Priest" he said calmly "Get me Supreme Commander Pallaeon"

------

Pallaeon winced as he regained consciousness and placed a hand on his forehead, feeling the warm flowing blood stream down his features, dying his white hair and moustache crimson. Slowly he sat up to survey the state of his Flagships Bridge, feeling his joints and spine scream with the effort as he did so.

The bridge was a mess of sparking and charred control and communications consoles, severed cables hung dangling from cracked and damaged bulkheads, their stumps sparking with electricity and exploding fuses. The dead and wounded were laid out across the floor with medical teams moving as fast as they could to tell who was dead and who was injured badly enough to be moved to a probably overcrowded medical wing.

One medic, a young Zabrak woman with long raven black hair tied in a bun, revealing her small crown of horns on her forehead bent down and gently tilted his head to get a better look at his cut. He made a move to resist her and tell her to move on but she stayed doggedly with him.

"The cut is deep sir" she said, her brow furrowed as she continued to sanitize the wound "You'll lose consciousness if it isn't dealt with"

As she finished cleaning the cut and started pulling out several rolls of bandages he was called back to his chair by the captain, the Lord Admiral wished to see him. Pallaeon allowed the medic to support him as he limped to his command chair and started to push a few buttons on the arm, answering the Lord Admirals hails.

Hunt appeared before him, sitting stiffly upright in his command chair, his cool eyes falling on the medic. To her credit she ignored him and continued to bandage her superior's forehead with bacta rap.

"Lord Admiral" Pallaeon boomed, sounding stronger than he felt "We thank you for your aide"

"Glad we could be of service" Hunt said as his eyes left the medic and settled on him, his eyes were accusing and his jaw was clenched but besides that he kept himself professionally "What damage did you receive?"

"Shields are down, hyperdrive offline, sublight damaged, all but the starboard main turbolaser batteries offline and several decks are open to space" Pallaeon listed off "It will take the Yaga shipyards a month to fully repair her, and that would be the patch up work"

"How is the medical situation?"

"I'll tell you when I get the report" Pallaeon said before summoning Natha to him and asking the same question.

"The medical wing is overcrowded sir" Natha whispered "There are just too many injured and not enough healers"

"Thank you captain" Pallaeon replied as he turned back to the Lord Admiral "Our medical wing is getting dangerously overcrowded"

"Then I will give you the full resources and staff of our medical wings" Hunt replied "I'll have shuttles full of medics and supplies ready and sent within the hour"

"Thank you Lord Admiral" Pallaeon replied "Also send the majority of your crusade to Bastion. We have it on good intelligence that the traitors are preparing a major attack on our capital"

Hunt nodded, traced the sign of an aquila along his chest and then signed off leaving the Supreme Commander to prepare for the Imperium medical shuttles. He turned to the medic who had just finished rapping his head with bandages.

"Permission to speak sir" she asked.

"Granted"

"He scares me" she said hesitantly "The way he looked at me made me think that he was going to pull a blaster"

The Supreme Commander nodded, knowing that her fear was well founded. Although Hunt was not as xenophobic as some of the others he was still not above pulling a bolt pistol on a random alien or droid and squeezing the trigger. Pallaeon tightened his jaw. The Imperium delegates just gave him a bad feeling.

"I want an extra few squads of stormtroopers to be placed on guard duty wherever the Imperium medics set up" he said quietly to Natha "Just as a precaution and to break up any…disagreements"

Natha nodded, like every other high ranking officer he had read the incident reports that had been streaming through the Alliance command about how certain groups within the Imperium relief forces had attacked Alliance civilians for no foreseeable reason other than they being alien or droid, there were even a few reports of them attacking humans who didn't share their beliefs. Naturally if word of this got out into the main populations it would start a mass panic.

------

As Hunt signed off from his communication link with the Alliance Supreme Commander he turned to his second in command and saw the disgust clearly set in the middle-aged mans features.

"Prep six _Thunderhawks _for emergency take off and fill them to bursting point with medical personnel and supplies captain"

"Aye sir" the captain replied, traced an aquila across his chest and spun on his heel to leave.

"An alien" Hunt growled inaudibly "He allowed an alien to heal his wounds, it's blasphemous to say the least"

"That it is sir" Tech-Priest Lathar replied as he stalked up towards the Lord Admiral's side, his crimson cloak billowing as he walked. He stopped alongside his superior and tapped the butt of his tech-staff against the steel grating as if to show his arrival. Hunt liked Lathar, the Mechanicus tech-priest was good at what he did and he was also not afraid to speak his mind, even to someone of his rank.

"And what is the Adeptus Mechanicus's opinion on this matter" Hunt asked, knowing the answer from the gleam in the Tech-Priest organic right eye.

"With all of the new technology coming in we couldn't be happier. Not since the Great Crusade when the Omnissiah led us did we have so much to pull apart and put back together again" the Tech-Priest swept his staff in a slow swing as if to add weight to his speech "The machine spirits of their vessels are more aware than our own and considerably better conversation, if a bit squeamish when we take it apart. Their vehicles, weapons and other technologies are also very fascinating. There is enough here to keep us busy for decades, maybe centuries to come"

"I see" Hunt replied "So the position of the Adeptus Mechanicus is friendship with these people instead of extermination?" he knew that the Mechanicus didn't really care about the xenos and AI which would make any normal individual scream heresy. As long as they had machines and new technology to research they wouldn't care about the greater workings.

"That I cannot say my lord" Lathar replied "But I do know that the Fabricator General is one of the main supporters of the Alliance within the Imperium, although he would still support the Imperium if he was outvoted and the High Lords decided to go to war"

"Which sadly will not be for a few more decades" Hunt added, biting his lower lip and drawing a slight drip of blood "No matter. Get me Admiral O'Connell, we will send him and a half of the crusade to Bastion to reinforce their defences. I shall remain behind until the Supreme Commander attains another command ship"

------

Another set of flashes heralded the arrival of yet another fleet squadron, this one made up of twelve _Imperial II _star destroyers with over three hundred escort and picket vessels. Several support ships followed including a handful of missile frigates and a single wedge shaped _Interdictor-class _star destroyer, the four domes situated on the sides a testament to the gravity-well generators they possessed.

Daemon Prince Kabaal looked upon the new arrivals and then back at the mass of warships arrayed around him. It was an armada worthy of Chaos. His battleship, the _Warp Dragon _stood out in front of the armada with over two thousand warships of varying sizes arrayed behind her from _Imperial-class _star destroyers to _Defender, _and _Nebula-classes_. Star Cruisers were in turn surrounded by them which were between 3km to 8km in length. There were even a few _Executer _star dreadnoughts and a cluster of their predecessor _Super-class _star destroyers.

Chaos had a presence as well with frigates, destroyers and cruisers dotted within the well organised Imperial traitor fleet squadrons. The sorcerers within casting spells and chanting incantations to prepare the recently gathered armada for the approaching battle, the very dark gods must have been smiling upon them in order for so many to have come, victory was a dead certainty.

He turned around to inspect the council of separatist admirals and chaos lords arrayed in front of him. The lords standing out by towering over their new found 'allies' by at least a full head, their armour ripped and dented to show their frequent use in battle and their weapons sheathed proudly at their sides. In contrast the admirals who were once of the Imperial Remnant but now called themselves the _Imperial Separatists_ wore olive coloured uniforms with insignia badges pinned proudly to their chest, blaster pistols at their hips and standing at attention with military precision.

"My brothers" he began with a grin, showing his filed sharp teeth "Today will mark the beginning of this galaxies true downfall. We of the forces of Chaos, messengers of the dark gods will fall upon this lowly Empire and wipe its stain from existence" with a lightning quick reaction he drew his daemon sword from its scabbard and held it high over his head, tip pointed to the ancient ceiling of his ship "For the dark gods!"

The chaos lords drew their power-swords and battle-axes in return, raising them up over their heads and repeating the chant he had shouted with a fanatical reverence. The daemon prince grinned savagely, his pitch black eyes gleaming with a fanatical need to cause suffering.

"And to our Imperial brothers" Kabaal continued "Fight with us and the remains of this empire will be yours. You will be warlords holding full dominion over the territories that you conquer for the glory of the five gods of chaos"

The six admirals inclined their heads in stiff nods, repeating the dark prayer with their heads held high "For the dark gods"

"Return to your vessels my brothers" he ordered as he sheathed his daemon sword and spun around to view the assembling fleet once more "Prepare your armies and assemble your fleets, we leave for Bastion and the Empires fall in two hours!"

Little did the daemon prince know that far off in deep space floated a kilometre long ship, its basic shape similar to the dagger-like designs of human star destroyers yet different. Its command tower was not in full view but lower down to the main deck, half hidden by a ridge of thick armour, alien weapon batteries dotted its hull and its engine nasals glowed with an eerie, alien green light.

The alien vessel continued to wait, suspended in the starry darkness of deep space. There was a set of distortions several kilometres away and three tiny craft appeared. Their cockpits were similar to that of an Imperial TIE fighter but instead of having solar panels they had four curved wings, their basic design made the approaching fighters look like claws, hence their name.

The three Clawcraft cut power to their engines as they approached the alien destroyers hanger bay doors and activated miniscule thrusters dotting their cockpit and wings. They executed flawless ninety degree turns which would have been impossible for an X-wing or TIE and hovered into the hanger, the monolithic doors closing behind them.

As the doors closed the ship began to move, turning around faster than any normal ship of its size would and started moving away from the armada. A few moments later and it vanished, jumping into hyperspace to wherever it came from.


	54. The End of an Era

_**Chapter 53**_

_**The End of an Era**_

_Now_

The simple word swirled throughout the entire structure of the Imperial Palace, the entire city that surrounded it and the underground slums below. The psychic message was sent to every one of the Emperors Custodians and the Adeptus Astartes on planet.

Brother-Captain Arkan Lathorise of the Custodians stood up from his place within the main cathedral and turned around to leave, his magnetic boots echoed through the ancient interior of the cathedral as he walked and pushed open the massive solid oak doors to the corridors of the palace proper.

As he continued marching down the magnificent corridors of the palace he found himself joined by his fellow Custodes, like him wearing engraved gold and black armour with long billowing dark red cloaks, holding 2 meter long bolter equipped spears, or Guardian Spears in golden engraved gauntlets.

"You heard brother?" Brother-Sergeant Lucius Nekos asked as he appeared to the Captains right, his Guardian Spear held firmly in his hands as he kept pace with his superior.

"Aye brother" Lathorise replied, not breaking his stride for a moment "What we have waited for countless millennia has arrived"

By know over fifty Custodians had arrived, assembling themselves into two columns of twenty five men each and still growing in numbers as they continued their march down the millennia old halls of the palace. Fifty quickly became a hundred, then two hundred, then a thousand and ever growing even when they entered the clear concrete floor which separated the main palace from the Emperors interior fortress.

As they approached the fortress they found their way blocked by the armoured forms of three hundred of their fellow Custodes. The elites of the Custodian Guards, the _Companions_ stood proudly at attention with their guardian spears held proudly in their right hands. Arkan stopped a hundred meters away from the elite columns, the thousand plus behind him quickly stopped and formed into disciplined ranks with incredibly precise speed and professionalism. The Brother-Captain smiled behind his war helmet, the Adeptus Custodes may not be as proficient in the arts of war as their Adeptus Astartes cousins but they were still a force to be reckoned with.

No words were exchanged between the two factions, in unison the companions turned a full hundred and eighty degrees and started marching towards the battlements of the fortress. They ignored the crouched stone gargoyles starring down at them from the fortress precipices high above, the black pits of their eyes and maws hiding stubber machine guns which could tear through their power armour with a single spray. The companions didn't pay them any attention and continued to march proudly towards the fortresses great kilometre high stone gates, the eternity gates. The recently arrived Custodes fell into formation behind them, swelling their numbers to exactly ten thousand legionnaires.

The great stone doors of the eternity gate opened for the first time with a great thundering creak, causing cascades of grey dust to fall from the top. The dust fell like snow as the near endless column of Custodes marched through the gates ten abreast, the echoes of their steel boots and the taps of the butts of Guardian Spears almost deafening in the cavernous chamber.

They marched through the hall of Primarchs to see the twenty statues of the Primarchs, both traitor and loyalist alike. The Custodes continued marching by these statues, their heads inclined in a show of respect to the Primarchs who stood with and died in the Emperors service during the Great Crusade and those who showed their loyalty to him during the Heresy. Many also offered prayers of forgiveness and pity to those Primarchs who had fallen to the false promises of the Chaos Gods.

As they left the hall of Primarchs and into the last chamber which led to the Golden Throne they found the twelve Warhound Titans who had stood guard over the Emperor for over ten thousand millennia. Standing in two lines of six each on opposite sides of the chamber like massive monolithic statues, their armour was a shinning gold, gleaming in the light of the chamber.

Finally they entered the Sanctum Imperialis, where the Golden Throne was situated. It was no longer there. The life support machine which had kept the Emperor of Man alive for ten millennia was gone. In its place stood a magnificent throne made of solid gold with markings and insignias engraved on its surface. Sitting on this throne was a man who would dwarf any in attendance.

This was impressive for a Custode was the same height as a Space Marine, standing a full head taller than a normal human, a Primarch was larger still, standing a head higher than a normal marine. The Emperor stood taller than any known Primarch, a true giant among men dressed in gold and silver armour with a long bladed power-sword and a storm-bolter leaning against the gleaming throne.

"My sons" he said, his voice holding such power that all in attendance couldn't help but look at him "We have much work to do"

High above the congregation, sitting on a ceiling rafter a kilometre above was the Healer and the Master. The Twi'lek was so exhausted from her healing exertions that she was fast asleep, leaning against her much older brother's shoulder. The Master sat there, watching the Emperor speak and finding himself entranced by the much older immortal.

"Sasha" he whispered, nudging her to awaken her "Do you hear this?"

She groaned in response and tiredly creaked open her eyes to look at him, then at the scene taking place below before closing them again. He nudged her again and she groaned in slight annoyance.

"Bro. Stop it" she said, her voice coming as a soft whine "I just want to sleep for a little while"

He chuckled before turning his attention back to the Emperor and his ten thousand Custodian Guards below, allowing his younger sister of the force to enter a blissful slumber. After a few moments he heard her soft rhythmic breathing, indicating that she had finally fallen asleep. His attention was caught as three squads of ten Custodians each stepped forward, kneeled before the emperor and turned to exit. He probed minds to see where they were going and found a smile creep across his face. This was going to be very interesting.

------

Primarch Rouboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines put on his last piece of power armour before turning to leave the chamber which he had spent countless millennia within. He pushed open the stone doors which separated him from the rest of the fortress to find the Ultramarines finest waiting for him.

The terminator armour gleamed in the light of the surrounding corridors, their weapons were polished to a shine and they stood tall and proud in a column of twenty by five. These immortal warriors were further surrounded by Ultramarine Honour Guard. These warriors were armed with a bolter holstered to their waists, the dreaded power-weapons known as the axes of Ultramar held in their hands. Their armour was blue with gold embroidering across their chest plates, helmets and waists, a long blue cape fluttered around them like shrouds of sapphire cloud.

At the head of this column of Ultramarine elites stood the proud forms of the present Chapter Master and Chief Librarian. Chapter Master Marneus Calgar stood out from all the others, a mammoth of a man wearing bulky power armour with cords and wires attached to his neck and the sides of his head, an eye implant covered his empty left eye socket. Chief Librarian Tigurius was a slightly smaller individual, but no less intimidating, a veteran of the Tyrannids he was specially trained to deal with the shadows the monsters caste which drove regular psykers insane.

As Guilliman strolled out into the chambers he inspected the present leaders of his chapter and the elites at their back. They returned his stare for a moment before they all came down to a knee and bowed their heads in respect.

"Hail Rouboute Guilliman" they shouted in reverence, their voices echoing throughout the fortress "Father and Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion!!!"

Besides himself the Primarch smiled at the reverence of his marines, even after so many millennia and so many past generations they still showed him more reverence then he thought himself worthy. He strolled forward towards the kneeling form of Calgar and placed a hand on the chapter masters shoulder.

"Rise Marneus Calgar, chapter master of the Ultramarines" he said proudly before turning his gaze to everyone else "All of you rise. Chief Librarian, 1st company, honour guards, all of you rise!"

"My brothers" he said as they slowly rose to their feet "Gather the Ultramarines, every company, every descendent chapter, every fleet to Macragge. My father, the emperor has ordered us to Terra to help usher in the beginning of a new age. Go my brothers and spread the word, the emperor has returned!!!"

------

While the Ultramarines began gathering their forces from across their section of the empire the Dark Angels had already assembled. In orbit above the founding chapters home world of The Rock a massive fleet of hundreds of vessels had gathered, each one bearing the crests and marking of either the Dark Angels or their successor chapters.

All of the successors had arrived with their own fleets of Picket vessels, strike cruisers and even battlebarges. The Angels of Absolution, Angels of Redemption, Consecrators, Disciples of Caliban and the Angels of Vengeance were just a few of the descendants that had gathered at the beckoning call of the Dark Angels recently awakened Primarch, Lion El'jonson.

Chapter Master Azrael gazed out of the bridge of the Dark Angels own lead battlebarge, surveying the clusters of warships from the many diverse descendents of the Dark Angels. He couldn't help but smile at the show of power, in his long life he had been a part of many conflicts for the Imperium and the Dark Angels. Some conquests and wars that he had fought were successful, others were not but in that time he had never seen the forces of the Dark Angels and their younger counterparts amassed to such a number. It was a sight that he had never seen before, and one which he may never see again.

"Magnificent" he mumbled to himself.

"Indeed it is chapter master"

Azrael turned to see the massive armoured form of his superior, towering over him by nearly a head. He instinctively fell down to one knee and bowed his head in admiration for his Primarch. Lion El'Jonson looked even more intimidating and powerful in real life than he did in the stories and legends told of him. He was a monster of a man, just like any other Primarch with armour of emerald green, engraved in gold and silver, a dark red cape hanged from his armoured shoulders. His helmet stood out, emerald green and gold like the rest of his armour but with a set of unfolding golden wings on either side, the same golden wings crafted to his chest plate. Sheathed to his scabbard was a massive power-sword, its blade shone green and was a meter and a half in length, the guard was crafted to look like outstretched wings with a red gem at its centre.

El'Jonson placed a hand on his kneeling subordinates shoulder and beckoned him to rise. The two men then looked out of the main view port, inspecting the grand vessels which made up the biggest fleet the Dark Angels had assembled in millennia.

"You gather this army for more than just welcoming back the emperor, don't you my lord?" Azrael asked after nearly an eternity of silence.

"Yes" the Primarch replied, his blood red eye visors shinning with power "An old foe of the galaxy is stirring. That is the main reason why my father is calling us to him"

"And you mean for us to fight this foe?"

"Yes"

"Then let them come. With the combined armadas of the Dark Angels, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, Custodians and the vast defence armies and fleets of the Segmentum Solar, we will crush them in a flurry of bolter shells and lance beams!"

"I only wish that it were that easy" the Lion replied wistfully "But I feel that we do not fight such an easily beaten foe. One of the C'Tan is coming Chapter Master, and he brings with him the full firepower of the Necron menace"

"Necron"

------

The Emperor stood up from his throne. Eyes that radiated pure power scanned the chamber which just a few hours ago held the entire Legion of his own Custodes, now was empty and silent. Slowly he descended the stone steps which separated his golden throne from the rest of the hall, looking up to the rafters high above.

A slight sound of weight hitting the stone floor brought his attention to the Master, his fellow immortal. He had changed clothes, this time wearing a black pair of robes with long sleeves which encompassed his hands, the robe was tied by a white sash around his waist and over the robes was a white sleeveless tunic with a black symbol of two lightsabres crossed together on the back. His sheathed sword and a lightsabre hilt he had just built were on his hip.

"My thanks to you Master" the Emperor said as he turned to face the man "And to your sister for speeding up my recovery"

"It was our pleasure" the immortal replied with a slightly extravagant bow "It would be better for both galaxies with you to take on the mantle of emperor of the Imperium"

"Your galaxy will have to wait I'm afraid" the emperor replied "That C'Tan you fought is gathering his forces for a direct attack on Terra herself. I am gathering forces from across the galaxy to try and put a good enough defence together"

"I can have Revan gather his forces to stand by you" the Master stated "He has been defending Imperium fringe worlds for nearly three thousand years"

"No" the emperor said with a wave of his hand "Revan's forces are set for something grander, another showdown. They must remain hidden, they must return to the Eastern fringe" he walked up to the Master, towering over him by at least a meter "Take your sister and the group she came with. Hide yourselves in the fringe, just like before"

"We can stay my lord" Master retorted calmly "We can fight, a few immortals by your side may tip the scales"

"That it may" the older immortal conceded "But consider this me looking after those younger than me. Powerful you are. Your sister also has power. But you are no match for the Dragon, you learned that first hand and as the Imperium stands your alien members would be as much at risk from my own armies as from theirs"

The master inclined his head in defeat, knowing the older immortals words spoke true "As you wish. I shall take Revan's forces back to the fringe"

"Very good" the Emperor said with a nod "I shall summon the rest of them and have the Custodes transport you to your fleet at the systems edge. It will have to be done quickly though"

"Because you're summoning the High Lords" the Master finished for him "You're going to strip them of their power until you can stabilise the Imperium"

"There is too much corruption in the Imperium" The Emperor agreed "The Inquisition is full of greedy and corrupt Inquisitors, the Adeptus Mechanicus are slowly drifting away from the rest of the empire, rebellions are rife throughout the outer territories and, even with all of this the High Lords are still making preparations for one of the biggest wars since the Horus Heresy"

------

Floodlights lit up the chamber of the high lords meeting halls, bathing the circular kilometre long and kilometre high chamber in pure light. The great oak doors of the senate hall opened with a great creak and the twelve High Lords of the Imperium filed into the chamber, their honour guards flanking their respective masters.

In the centre of the chamber was a massive table made of Terran oak. Chairs were set in strategic places, each one furnished to show which High Lord it belonged too. Slowly the twelve lords took their seats, their honour guards taking positions behind them, hands on the pommels and grips of their weapons, ready to draw them at a moments notice. Even in the meetings halls a high lord was not safe, there were many instances when a lord was assassinated by a rival in the senate.

"Gentlemen" the Lord of the Administratum stated as the last lord stood in front of his chair "Please be seated"

The Lord of the Administratum was the representative and leading authority of the Administratum, the administration and bureaucratic division of the Adeptus Terra and the organisation responsible for the everyday workings oft the empire, from the assembling of crusade fleets to the levying of tax's. It wasn't a surprise that the man representing this organisation was considered the lead authority of the twelve. He was a middle aged man, dressed in an extravagant gold and emerald robe.

"Now gentlemen" he started as he took his seat and skipped through several datapads, finally picking one off the table and scrolling through it "Let us begin. We are gaining reports of raiding and piracy near our borders with the Tau Empire. Several convoys have vanished without a trace, and those who survived tell crazed stories about living ships which are fast and deadly"

"Obviously the Tau has made more advancement in their abominable technology" the Lord of the Ecclesiarchy stated confidently. He was an old man, distinguished by his leathery face, hollow eyes and thinning white hair. Besides the advancements in life lengthening drugs and surgery he refused to take them, saying that the Emperor could see the age of any man.

"Open your eyes you old fool" the Master Inquisitor retorted "The honoured lord of the Administratum said living vessels, the Tau have no such technologies"

"None that we know of" the Ecclesiarch returned hotly before breaking into a fit of coughing, two young women wearing red robes approached him but stopped at his raised hand "That doesn't mean that they don't have them!"

"So you are saying that we prepare for another crusade against the Tau" the Fabricator General added "After the last fiasco"

"Enough" the Grand Provost Marshal interjected, drumming his fingers against the oak in a show of impatience "Just triple the military escorts for the convoys!"

"We have larger problems" the Lord of the Astronomicon added angrily "The war in the other galaxy has grown more widespread than we had originally anticipated. As it stands the eighteen hundred plus vessels we have sent aren't enough"

"What do you suggest?"

"I suggest we stop playing nice and send a real crusade through the wormhole" he replied "No less than five thousand ships of war, hundreds of thousands of Imperial Guard and even elites from across the Imperium, Tech-Guard, Storm-troopers, sisters of battle…even a few more Astartes companies"

"Who do you wish to send" the Provost Marshal inquired "The Ultramarines and the Blood Ravens can't afford to send anymore"

"Gentlemen I put this too you, we send a chapter more…zealous than the others. I am declaring we send the Black Templars"

"The Black Templars" the Master Inquisitor repeated "The most fanatical and zealous chapter in the galaxy"

"Precisely" the Ecclesiarch said with a glint of a smile on his face "It will throw back the Chaos armadas and show the Alliance our true military might. I have studied the maps of their galaxy and have found that while their empire is large it is only half the size of our own"

"We are not going to start this argument again" the Fabricator General stated "War with the Alliance would not be in the Imperium's best interests. Smaller they may be, weak and easy to conquer they are not. Have you not read the wars they undertook in the past my lord"

"I have learned that they are resilient" he agreed "That is all. Besides Fabricator why do you defend the Alliance so, is it because you are so blinded by their technological abilities that you fail to see reason?"

Before the General could muster a retort the great chambers of the senate opened with a thundering creak, causing the twelve lords to jump in surprise. No one ever interrupted a meeting of the High Lords unless it was a matter of life and death. The guards of the twelve armed their weapons and aimed them at the opening double doors, bolter shells were chambered, power-weapons thrummed and hellguns hummed, ready to defend their charges if the need came.

The eyes of all in attendance widened when they saw a column of the emperors own Custodians march through the great doors. Their booted heels echoed through the chamber as they marched in perfect unison, their armour shinned with an almost supernatural brilliance and their guardian spears were always sharp and ready for war.

They came to a sudden halt, the only sound being the feinting echo which still resounded through the chamber. None of the thirty Custodes spoke until that echo finally ended. They then parted, allowing their leader to make his way to the front of the column. Brother-Captain Arkan Lathorise surveyed the High Lords with hollow eyes before speaking.

"The Emperor of Humanity demands the presence of the High Lords immediately" he bellowed.

"How dare you" the ecclesiarch thundered, breaking into a fit of coughs as he did so "How dare you enter this place without permission, how dar-"

Before he could finish the Captains hard eyes settled upon the offending High Lord and he felt a wave of psychic pressure envelope him, making it difficult to move or even breathe. The ecclesiarch began to cough and hack, the fit only subsiding when the two red robed girls ran to his side and put a breath mask to his face, forcing him to take in the oxygen. None of the guards moved, they knew that even if they acted they would be no match for the Custodes.

"I will repeat myself only once more" Arkon growled, his voice leaving no room for discussion "The emperor requests your presence!"

------

The twelve lords were escorted into the Sanctum Imperialis in single file with the Custodes sent to gather them taking up positions in lines on either side. Their bodyguards had been left behind in the senate halls until they would be called upon again.

As they entered the last chamber before the Emperors inner sanctum they found the hall full with column upon column of the Emperors Custodian Guard. The emperor's personal guardians stood within the chamber in their thousands. In fact it was possible that the entire legion was in attendance. The massive war Titans stood guard against the walls like massive statues. The twelve lords of the Imperium brought themselves up to their full heights, their heads held high as they were escorted through the chamber into the emperors Sanctum Imperialis.

Within the sanctum there were no Custodians, no titans, no defences of any kind. The only other man was in the centre of the inner chamber, sitting upon a throne of pure gold. He rose from his seat, showing how tall he truly was and descended the stone steps.

The High Lords stood there for a moment, watching the man before them with fear and surprise. The Lord of Assassins moved first, coming down to one knee and lowering his head in a bow, the Fabricator General followed, then the Master Inquisitor. All of the lords came down to a knee by the time the Emperor of Mankind stepped onto the floor before them, his powerful gaze upon each of them before he spoke.

"The Imperium is weakening" he muttered, catching all of the lords by surprise by his sudden words "I created the High Lords of Terra so that you could govern the everyday workings of the Imperium under my guidance. But with the Heresy things drastically changed, I could no longer guide you and over the millennia the High Lords began to get more corrupt and power hungry"

"My lord" the ecclesiarch began but was silenced by one stern gaze from the emperor.

"Corruption is rife on every level of the Imperium" he continued "Rebellions are spreading throughout the fringe worlds of the Imperium, Inquisitors and religious leaders are abusing their powers to the fullest, technological advancements have grinded to a halt, and instead of dealing with the major threats to our empire like the Tyrannids, the Necron, the Orks and the Great Enemy you choose instead to fight senseless wars against the Eldar, the Tau and making preparations for invading an empire who would be better as a friend than an enemy"

"Until the Imperium has been stabilised I am hereby striping you of any major decisions regarding the Imperium as a whole, or any of the military forces" he continued, the look in his eyes muting any retorts on the high lords tongues "You will still have power in your own factions but they can be overridden by either me or any of my Primarchs…understand?"

**I was originally planning on releasing this at the beginning of the next episode, but considering that your all really impatient on seeing the Emperor revived I pushed this forward and made some serious changes to my original storyline. Nothing drastic, just overlapping a few story arcs.**


	55. Counterattack

_**Chapter 54**_

_**Counterattacks**_

**I decided to delete the idea of Warp Angels from this story. Perhaps I am turning this into a Sci-fi pulp by adding something like that in so goodbye**

"Preparing to exit hyperspace."

Joseph Halos sat on his leather command throne, watching as the stars returned from the long lines of pure light to their normal pinpricks, signifying his ship's reversion to real space. Halos sighed, thinking that hyperspace had its beauty but could be just as dangerous as the warp, if a course wasn't plotted correctly a ship could crash into a star or enter a black hole. It was also known that ships had vanished from the space lines while still in hyperspace, never to be seen again.

He pressed a few runes on the arm of his command chair and waited, allowing a holographic three dimensional image of the entire star system to appear, showing the planets, moons, asteroid belt, defensive lines and ship concentrations, particularly the black patches which represented Chaos ship concentrations, and the silver and gold which represented the ships of the coalition. Outside of the blockading Chaos ship formations was a growing cluster of gold and silver icons, representing his fleet.

He hit a few more runes, allowing the image to zoom into his fleet's location. His star dreadnought, the _Lady of Fate _was set in the centre of the formations with Lord Admiral Halcyon's battleship, the _Lord Solaris _hovering a kilometre to his ship's portside. Spread out over a hundred kilometre area of space was the rest of the coalition fleet, over seven hundred warships ranging in size from capital-ships to escorts.

"All ships report ready and in position."

"Lord Admiral Halcyon reports his crusade is in position and awaiting instructions."

"Good," Halos said as his eyes continued to scan the clusters of Chaos capital-ships and pickets surrounding the Bakura system. They were well positioned with clusters of fifty to a hundred vessels each placed at key points, stopping anyone from within the system from escaping to open space yet also positioned so that reinforcements could be moved from one place to another fairly quickly. There were so many clusters that the grand admiral thought that the enemies' number could be in the thousands. The commander of this blockade knew exactly what he was doing.

"All ships, take up position epsilon beta spearhead," he ordered and watched as the vessels of the taskforce slowly formed up into a spear tip, ready to pierce a chosen enemy ship concentration. He had chosen his target and after a brief pause gave the order to strike.

For a brief moment his ship entered hyperspace and exited again, bringing his dreadnought within firing distance of the nearest enemy ship, a Chaos frigate. The mighty main batteries opened up, spewing beams of destructive death upon the much smaller vessel. It didn't have a chance, exploding a few moments after the bulk of energy weapons hit their mark.

By then the rest of the coalition fleet had arrived and likewise opened fire with every weapon battery at their disposal. The numbers of the Chaos fleet were reduced quickly by the vastly superior numbers of the fleet under both Halos's and Halcyon's command.

Halos briefly checked the main three dimensional resolution before him, verifying the locations of other Chaos fleet groups. Three clusters were closing in on their positions. As he watched the display he quickly barked out orders for certain fleet squadrons to move to interception positions and wait for the enemy to arrive.

Onboard his battleship Halcyon was likewise barking out orders for his own forces to move into positions. The Tech-Priests, servitors and bridge crew of his battleship relayed his orders to the mass of men and women who kept the monstrous leviathan moving. He felt the thrum as his battleships mighty engines came to life, propelling it forward with the fleet towards the opening skirmishes.

By the time the Chaos reinforcements had arrived the fleet had properly positioned itself into two flanks, each one facing the direction where the incoming enemy fleets would be arriving. From his worn leather command throne Halos watched as more clusters of Chaos fleets began to converge on the battle-group's position. He grinned, seeing that they were taking the bait. From the inside of the system he saw the ragtag fleet groups of Bakura's defence force begin to muster on several key locations in an attempt to shatter the blockade in a two pronged attack.

"All ships," he ordered crisply as the first wave of Chaos vessels returned to real space right in front of his formation, "Open fire!"

------

"The _Adjacent Fury _reports ready admiral" her communications officer reported, indicating the massive battlebarge which dwarfed even her flagship. Grand Admiral Alexi Daala scanned the massive fortress of steel with a trained eye, glad that its compliment of Space Marines was on her side. Surrounding both her star dreadnought and the battlebarge was a small shell of Space Marine frigates and strike vessels from several different chapters, waiting impatiently for the chance to shatter the blockade and return to the war that they came here to fight.

Surrounding the impressive shell of Space Marine starships was an even greater shell of vessels from both the Alliance and the Imperium, all battered and charred from continuous skirmishes against their Chaos harassers, but ready to repay the debt in spades. She tore her eyes from the space battle, settling upon the holographic forms of the Bakuran defence council, a group of military leaders including generals, admirals and most impressive of all the highest ranking members of the Space Marine p resence in the fleet.

"Captain Angelos," Daala asked, indicating the massive intimidating holographic form of the elected leader of the space marines in this conflict, "Are the emperors finest ready to take the fight to the enemy?"

"We are ready," Angelos replied impassively, although Daala thought she saw a hint of excitement in his grey eyes.

"All right," Daala began, "All ships, prepare for a short hyperspace jump, be ready to come out with all guns blazing!"

The other commanders nodded and shimmered away as they disengaged their holograms, and Daala sat back in her chair, exhaling a breath as the mass of ships in front of her vanished into hyperspace, followed by her own. The hyperspace jump only took a moment, and when they reverted to real space they found that the battle had started without them.

"Admiral, fleet squadrons all report in and ready"

"Good," Daala replied just noticing the Space Marine strike cruisers and frigates had already started their advance upon the wayward chaos formations. The _Adjacent Fury's _massive bulk completely filed her vessel's starboard viewports as it lumbered after its escorts, lance batteries already spewing out torrents of death upon the enemy rearguard.

"All ships, battle formations," she ordered, "Wait for the signal to fire and for the Force's sake watch your aim, there are allies in that maelstrom"

Silently the fleet moved into their assigned formations, their weapon batteries quiet and their fighter compliments at standby. Each fleet squadron was made up of three capital-ships in a v-formation with a shell of destroyers, frigates and pickets surrounding them. Wordlessly Daala watched as six _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers formed up around her dreadnought, their weapon systems primed but waiting for her orders.

The Chaos forces had just noticed their arrival and a full half of their monolithic blockade force were turning to intercept them. The grand admiral mentally calculated the time it would take them to close the gap and considered ordering the fleet to open fire before the formations were complete.

"They are in position admiral,"

"Thank you second officer Tenner," she replied, "Fleet status?"

"Eighty percent in formation and standing by."

"It will have to do," she muttered as the Space Marine contingent speared into the Chaos lines, destroying escorts and blasting through capital-ships, and decided that then now was the perfect time, "Full broadside, all ships open fire!!!"

The fleet erupted in a torrent of well-aimed turbolaser and lance fire, the beams of green, red and orange crossing the void and colliding with enemy ships. Not a single Space Marine vessel was hit and their way was clear thanks to the barrage of the fleet behind them.

The Space Marine captain's voice crackled through the communication systems "You have our thanks for that impressive display grand admiral."

"Don't mention it, Captain," Daala replied with a bit of a grin, as the two warriors had forged a bond of respect during the many months of fire and blood they shared when Bakura was weathering the worst of the Chaos invasion, saving each other's skin so many times that it was nearly impossible to keep track.

------

"Brothers!" Gabriel howled as the _Adjacent Fury _waded through the lines of Chaos ships, creating a path for Daala's forces to follow through, "Let us bring the Emperor's shinning light upon these betrayers! For the Emperor!!!"

There was a thunderous chant throughout the superstructure of the battlebarge from every Space Marine aboard, even the thousands of serfs who made up the crew's compliment added their voices to the chant. They had been cooped up in that little star system for so long that the captain thought they might need to shake off the rust.

The battle-group continued to slice through the chaos lines, the battlebarge leading the charge all the way. They could already see the flashing lasfire and explosions of another distant skirmish. The captain guessed that that was where Halos and Halcyon were, barging through the Chaos armada from the opposite side in an attempt to push through to them. The two opposite forces would eventually meet, and when they did the Chaos blockade would be broken and the forces associated with it shattered.

A much needed major victory for the coalition, the Imperium…the Emperor.

"My lord, there are distortions in space!"

"Where?" Angelos asked, gazing through the bridge viewports for any such phenomena.

"Everywhere!"

An image appeared before the captain, showing a swirling tear appear in the fabric of space itself, like a gaping wound that he had only seen on a handful of occasions, but its meaning remained the same. Quickly the captain spun on his heel, drawing his power-sword with remarkable speed and stabbing into the rotten heart of a muscular warp daemon, it was like nothing that he had ever seen before, fairly human in appearance, a mass of black flesh with two bony arms and legs, a long whip like tail swinging from side to side, spines and horns covered its back and shoulders and a pair of feral yellow eyes that starred hungrily at him before it turned into black mist.

"All hands!" Gabriel bellowed as he tossed his power-sword to his left hand and drew his bolt pistol with the other, "Summon the fleet, prepare to repel borders…and get me those Grey Knights!!!"

Screams of dread and terror resounded from the bridge as more of the black muscled monstrosities appeared there, tearing unsuspecting serfs and servitors apart with tooth and claw. Gabriel aimed his bolter pistol at one and squeezed the trigger. The rounds hit the daemon head on, disintegrating its head. The bridge's Space Marine contingent aimed and fired, spewing bolter rounds upon the monsters, tearing them to pieces in a hail of explosive shells.

Meanwhile on the dreadnought _Courageous _Daala had been thrown to the floor, being held down by the nearly crushing weight of a black warp daemon. She gritted her teeth and put several rounds into it with her blaster pistol. Again and again she shot the creature point blanc in its abdomen, which was seeping blood onto her admiral's uniform, yet it continued to bear down on her, opening its maw as if to tear her head off her shoulders.

A hail of blaster fire saved her life, striking the creature's side and disintegrating it in a mass of blood and fractured bones. It fell lifelessly on top of her and Daala let out a scream of agony as one of its talons dug into her leg. A group of Alliance marines ran to her side, hefting the creature off her and dragging her away from the carnage.

The bridge's contingent of guards was firing continuously upon the daemonic entities that appeared without warning and started tearing her bridge crew to pieces. She had read extensively on the known kinds of daemons the Imperium encountered, but she had never seen such a beast before. Similar skirmishes were taking place all over the ship, all over the fleet, demoralising them and making many vessels easy prey for the battered but not defeated Chaos warships.

------

"What is going on?" Halos growled as he watched ship after ship in Daala's fleet fall without a fight, "Try to raise one of their ships, I don't care which one!"

A fleet frequency came on line, but when the hail was sent there were no responses, only the sounds of near head pounding static. For what seemed like minutes Halos waited, watching as the ships of the fleet continued to pound through the hastily regrouping Chaos blockade. Finally they got an answer.

"Grand Admiral Halos, this is Brother-Captain Angelos."

"Captain," Halos greeted, stopping short when he heard gunfire and the rattling of chain-swords in the background, "What's going on?"

"We're under heavy attack from boarding Chaos daemons," Angelos reported, "We estimate such infiltration to have happened to roughly twenty percent of the total fleet including the _Courageous _and the _Adjacent Fury_."

Before he heard the last of the Space Marine's report, Halos heard the _snap-hiss _of a lightsabre and spun on his command throne in time to see Gabrielle slice through a warp daemon as if she were cutting warm butter with a knife. The creature convulsed and collapsed, slowly disintegrating into black mist.

"We appear to have a similar infestation," the Grand Admiral replied before turning to the ensign on the ship-to-ship communications, "Order all ships to triple interior security, daemon infestation, code red apex delta, shoot on sight!"

"This is the captain speaking," Florn shouted on the ship's communications, "All security and marines to your stations, I repeat all security and marines to your stations, daemon infestation code…"

As Florn relayed the orders throughout the entire ship Halos drew his blaster pistol and set it on his lap, ready for the need to use it at a moments notice. Likewise Gabrielle kept her lightsabre hilt in her hand, unlit but still ready for action. The clicking of magazines and clips being loaded into blasters signalled that the bridge security squads were likewise prepared.

"Take us forward, helmsman," Florn ordered, likewise drawing his pistol and checking its power cell, "All gun batteries fire on anything not bearing coalition markings!!!"

"Yes sir!"

------

The Grey Knights entered the battle, peppering daemons with anointed bolter shells from wrist mounted storm bolters and skewered them with their nemesis halberds and nemesis force swords. They moved with such speed and precision that their Space Marine brethren couldn't help but be impressed by their battle skill.

"Hanger clear!"

"Engineering clear!"

"Living quarters clear!"

"Firing control clear!"

As the different decks reported their status Angelos couldn't help but grin slyly. On a normal ship of the Emperor, the daemons may have had a chance, but on a vessel controlled by the Adeptus Astartes, they had no chance. He sheathed his sword and holstered his pistol before starring out upon the firestorm taking place all around them. Many vessels had dealt with the small daemon invasions and continued with the battle, reforming and plunging back into the Chaos lines.

"The _Courageous _reports that the Grand Admiral has been injured in battle, Brother-Captain, but they are ready to continue."

"Good," Angelos replied. Daala was not the type of warrior who would stop leading her people because of a flesh wound. It was one of the many attributes that he admired in her.

"Brother-Captain, Grand Admiral Halos's flagship is in sight"

"Thank you, mister R Ronaldi," Angelos replied, "Full speed, all guns fire at anything that moves, once our two armadas join this battle is over!"

The battlebarge trudged on, her shields flickering from the constant barrage of weapons fire she took, but she and her escorts were no longer alone. The lull had allowed much of the Bakuran battle-group to rejoin them. _Imperial _Star Destroyers and _Firestorm _light cruisers fought side by side, protecting their much bigger charges from the small swarms of enemy starfighters.

Then it happened, the two battle-groups joined, the raw firepower from their guns swatting the remaining Chaos vessels out of the sky like flies. Daala fell into her chair, taking in a breath before exhaling it sharply. She looked down to see the medic had finished cleaning the wound and was now applying the bacta wrap. All around her bridge medics and soldiers were carrying the dead and wounded away, she shook her head. War was a very ugly business.

------

By the time Lord Admiral Hunt and Supreme Commander Pallaeon arrived at the Imperial capital the battle was nearing the end of its first day. Clusters of warships battered each other with turbolaser and lance fire, starfighters battled with each other in swarms around capital-ships, orbital defence platforms around space stations.

One thing the Lord Admiral knew from this display of space battle was that the Remnant had failed to stop the eparatists and their traitorous Chaos allies from gaining a foothold in the capital system.

"Battle stations!" he shouted, watching for a moment as the bridge crew went to their tasks, "Raise shields; power up weapons…where is Admiral O'Connell?"

"We can't locate his cruiser my lord!"

"Then locate it!" Hunt growled, "All ships fire at will!!!"

The three hundred warships under his command and the five hundred under the Alliance supreme commander opened up with a withering barrage of destructive beams and torpedoes. The shell of traitor vessels in front of them was ripped asunder by the opening salvo.

Hunt turned his head slightly to see Pallaeon's new flagship, an old civil war era _Executer-class _Star Dreadnought, as it and the escort vessels surrounding her spewed out a torrent of death at the enemy formations.

The battle group continued its push into the capital system of the Imperial Remnant, mowing down any of the scattered traitor fleets they came across. Eventually their numbers began to swell as more Remnant star destroyers and cruisers joined their ranks.

"My lord admiral, I have located Admiral O'Connell!"

"Then put him through!"

Instead of seeing Admiral O'Connell appear in front of him, Hunt viewed the destroyed husk of his cruiser, which was floating lifelessly in space, its heavily armoured hull charred and pocked in several places, equipment and the dead floated around the lifeless cruiser, their faces blue and their bodies bloated by decompression.

"Damn them!" Hunt hissed, "Damn those traitorous scum, I'll continue to hunt them down until not a single one is left in this galaxy, as the Emperor is my witness!"

"Your orders, sir?"

"Arm the nova cannon!" Hunt bellowed angrily, "Aim it for the biggest traitor vessel you can find and blow it from existence, and order all battlecruisers and battleships to do the same!"

"Aye sir!" the captain replied with a malicious grin.

A few moments later, over twenty nova cannons were discharged, spewing their deadly anti-ship shells into space. Soon, space came alive with unimaginably bright flashes as the shells hit their mark. The Lord Admiral waited, drumming his fingers against the command chair's arm as holoscreen after holoscreen appeared, showing separatist and Chaos warships exploding and breaking up from the deadly act of retaliation.

"Sir, we have more ships coming in."

Hunt growled and started pressing runes on his chair's arm console, bringing up images of hundreds, maybe thousands of flashes, he hit a few more buttons and the image zoomed in, showing pitch black remnant ships and larger chaos vessels.

"I read maybe two thousand enemy ships," one of the serfs called, "Most of them are separatist vessels with over a hundred and fifty Chaos craft within the formations!"

"Emperor be with us!" his captain murmured, tracing the Emperor's insignia across his chest.

"Get me the supreme commander!"

------

"Gather the fleet groups around Bastion," Pallaeon barked from his command chair, "We're going to need every ship to repel this one."

"Yes sir!"

"Sir, Lord Admiral Hunt is hailing."

"Put him on."

The Lord Admiral appeared before him, his half mechanical features furrowed in deep thought, "You saw?"

"Yes," Pallaeon replied, "I am assembling all fleet squadrons around Bastion now. Its orbital and ground defences should give us the firepower we need to repel these separatist cowards!"

The Lord Admiral nodded in agreement, "Since this is your home we are fighting for I place the remnants of my fleet in your command."

"Thank you."

As the Lord Admiral's image flickered and vanished Pallaeon calculated the numerical difference in his mind. At that moment the Remnant's loyal fleets were scattered across their territories searching for a traitor armada which was here, at the very heart of the Empire. They were outnumbered two to one in this but the orbital and ground defences were formidable enough to even the odds. If it came to a ground battle the supreme commander knew that the three hundred thousand Imperial regulars and five legions of loyal Stormtroopers could hold out against the traitors' army, but it was the civilian population of over eight billion he was worried about, knowing what Chaos did to the innocent.

"We can't allow this to become a ground battle," Pallaeon said.

"Agreed sir," the captain replied with a nod, "Do you have a plan?"

"A risky one,"

"Will it work?"

"Possibly," Pallaeon said, then barked out an order to revive communications with the Lord Admiral, and as Hunt reappeared, looking as deep in thought as ever before, he asked "T "Tell me, my lord, how many of your ships are hyperdrive equipped?"

"All of them," Hunt replied with a questioning frown, "It was a mandatory refit before we came here."

"Then I have an idea," Pallaeon said before explaining his strategy, when he was finished the Lord Admiral looked at him as if he was insane, then a smile appeared on his face, "You'd make a fine Warmaster, Supreme Commander Gilad Pallaeon."

------

"Sir, we have arrived at the last designated point," Admiral Piett said with a crisp salute, "Once the fleet is accounted for we will jump to Bastion."

Anakin turned to face the admiral, a slight smile on his face before nodding, "Thank you, Admiral, tell me when the fleet is ready."

"Yes sir."

As the admiral spun around and started walking back across the command deck, Anakin felt a strange sensation. He shrugged it off and turned back to inspect the stars. Several Jedi were scattered across the bridge and command deck, talking and watching. Jedi masters Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Depa Billiba, Corran Horn and Kit Fisto stood around a holo-table discussing on the proper strategy for the battle ahead, while Yoda stood on the command deck looking into space, it all seemed to alien to Anakin.

"You're having trouble accepting how you and the others could be here," his son said as he came up beside him.

"It is still hard to accept," Anakin replied, his head then fell slightly, a sad smile on his face, "Very hard to accept. I and the others should be dead, my children are older than me, my grandchildren are about the same age as me, and one of them is making the same mistakes I made, only under the pretence that he is doing this for the greater good of the galaxy."

"Don't dwell on the past father," Luke said, his eyes closed and head bowed slightly, "Don't question why you are here, do not think, do not cloud your mind with such confusing thoughts. Since when has the Force been easy to understand? We have tried to learn its secrets for thousands of years and yet we are no closer to understanding it than the hermits of countless millennia ago. Trust in the Force and the answers will come to you in time."

"My son," Anakin said as he turned, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder, "You've become a far wiser and stronger Jedi than I could ever hope to be."

"From you," Luke replied, "That means everything."

Anakin smiled, a smile that for the first time since he had returned was not forced or sad, he nodded to his son and turned back to further gaze upon the endless sea of stars before them. Suddenly he saw several hundred flashes light up the distance. He spun and barked orders to identify the intruders.

"It can't be Chaos, can it?" Fisto asked as he came up beside Anakin, further accompanied by Masters Billiba, Windu, Yoda, Horn, Durron and Koon, "Or the Imperial Seperatists?"

Anakin's head lowered, "We'll know soon enough."

Images appeared showing sleek vessels of a completely alien design. They looked like Star Destroyers, yet their look was completely different from any that he had ever seen before. Ranging from one to five kilometres in length they kept the same basic wedge shape that was common for the class but the command tower had been lowered, partially hidden behind a crevice of hull armour.

"Sir, the lead ship is calling us."

"Put him through," Anakin replied and watched as a holo-screen appeared before them showing a tall humanoid wearing a white uniform with gold embroidering. His hair was jet black and cut in a military style, his skin was a cerulean blue, but what distinguished him were his eyes, which shined crimson red. The stern alien gazed upon the nine masters arrayed before him before speaking.

"I am Admiral Mak'shiro'lathorri, or by my core name, Shiro," he said in heavily accented basic, "We represent the empire you know as the Chiss Ascendancy."

"Greetings, Admiral," Anakin said as he stepped forward, "I am-"

"Anakin Skywalker, yes, we know," Shiro replied, "I and the thousand plus vessels of the 5th Phalanx battle-group have been sent by our noble houses to assist you in the repelling of the Chaos armadas from the galaxy."

"Why would you act now?"

"We have already been attacked by a Chaos fleet sent into the unknown regions," Shiro explained, "We lost three colony worlds to them before they were stopped and driven back to the abyss, over five hundred thousand lives were massacred…the Ascendancy will have vengeance for this unspeakable act!"

"Then, Admiral, join us you may," Yoda spoke up, "For fighting Chaos, we will"

------

"All systems check."

"Hyperdrive coordinates set."

"All weapons on standby."

"Lord Admiral Hunt reports his ships are ready."

"Admiral Curry reports all ships ready."

"Admiral Green reports all ships ready."

"Admiral Bradley reports ready."

"Very good," Pallaeon said, before starring at the two thousand plus separatist and Chaos warships arrayed against them. They were coming in slowly, strategically, preparing themselves for a long blockade of the Imperial capital. The supreme commander grinned before sitting forward in his command chair.

"Now."

The stars turned into lines for just a moment, just a moment. Yet within that moment the battle group had crossed a full half of the solar system, within that moment the one thousand Imperial and Imperium ships of war had moved from Bastion to within the traitor fleet itself. As the stars returned to normal and the black masses surrounded them Pallaeon started barking orders.

"Raise shields, choose your targets…FIRE!!!"

Immediately the stars came alive with turbolaser and lance fire as the battle group, now scattered within the enemy armada, cut lose with every weapon at their disposal. Separatist Star Destroyers and Chaos picket ships began exploding and disintegrating under the force of the battle group's guns. Dozens, maybe hundreds of enemy ships were either destroyed or suffered damage before the enemy regained their senses and fired back.

From his command chair on board the battleship _Crying Saint_,Lord Admiral Hunt laughed as his ship's countless weapons opened fire, destroying or crippling all ships around her. The supreme commander had made a dangerous and potentially disastrous move, but it had paid off. Hunt felt his respect for the old man rise greatly, he wasn't afraid to take risks, the sign of a true military leader.

The enemy ships regained their sanity and returned fire, and Hunt watched as several allied Star Destroyers and his own escorts began to fall one by one. There were just far too many of them, the supreme commander's trick may have given them the chance to strike but the numbers were just too staggering.

"My lord," his captain said, his eyes wide, "Chaos cruisers!"

"Where?"

"Everywhere!"

Swearing he saw that four Chaos battlecruisers had surrounded the battleship, one on each side of the titanic vessel's hull. Lance fire was exchanged continuously between them but the battlecruisers had the _Saint _in the middle of a kill zone. Slowly the mighty void shields flickered and finally died, allowing lance after lance to strike the thick adamantium armour plating.

"It was a pleasure serving you, my lord."

Hunt fell back in his chair as a fresh wave of explosions shook the very superstructure of the battleship. If this kept up then not even a ship of the _Saint's _calibre could survive.

"No, Captain," Hunt replied, "The pleasure of having you and the crew of this ship as my subordinates is all mine."

Suddenly two beams of bright green light cascaded from high above, each one piercing through the heavily armoured hull of the two battlecruisers with perfect accuracy and turning them to atoms. The Lord Admiral looked up to see three massive pitch black warships descend upon the battle, and by the Emperor they were massive, each at least seventeen kilometres long. The three super battleships were not alone. A mass of warships was arrayed around them from archaic Star Destroyers to alien ships he had never seen in the archives of this galaxy before.

They entered the battle, punching holes through the enemy lines with their weapon batteries. The three super battleships firing so many turbolaser batteries that it was like they were surrounded by green, blue and red light. Smaller alien Star Destroyers flew past them at three times their supposed speed, cutting into the mass of enemy ships and tearing their formations apart.

As the Lord Admiral watched, a large view-screen came to life showing a being wearing strange white armour, a long white cape draped around his shoulders and a lightsaber hilt at his hip. His breathing was deep and chilling. He spoke, his words bringing an even greater chill up the Lord Admiral's spine.

"I am Darth Vader," the being spoke with power, "And with my return the Empire will be strong again. All of you who turn against the empire for false promises of power have no place in the new order I will forge. You will flee or you will die!"

As if to add to his statement another bright lance of destructive green light fired from the central star dreadnought, soaring through space and colliding with a separatist star cruiser, shearing straight through its hull from the tip of its nose all the way back to the engine nozzles. For a moment it just hung there, like time had suddenly stopped, then it sparked and exploded.

For a moment nothing happened then he began to see the Separatist fleet squadrons break formation and turn, making a run for open space. Slowly the Imperial traitors scattered and fled one by one until only a few hundred Separatist vessels remained with the hundred Chaos ships. It took another hour to win the battle but by its end Hunt had many unanswered questions, and a need to have them answered.

_**Special thanks to Dungams, who did a great job of putting this chapter through a beta for me.**_


	56. Battle of Sluis Van: Chaos Cometh

_**Chapter 57**_

_**Battle of Sluis Van**_

_**Chaos Cometh**_

**Sorry bout deleting those other two chapters, but I was having serious second thoughts about introducing another faction into the story. So I deleted that part and decided to continue on with the finale of the episode. So here is my official apology, hope you guys enjoy it!**

------

The screeches of daemons and warp apparitions resounded throughout the _Planet Killers _unnaturally built hull, adding their eerie chorus to the groans of the Chaos flagships superstructure. The walls of the vast chambers and long corridors seemed to pulse like the insides of some massive creature, as if they were all veins connected to a beating heart in the flagships centre. To Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster and gods chosen of the forces of Chaos, the screams of the warp apparitions and of the groans of the ships hull were all like a symphony of beautiful music to his ears. His bridge crew of traitor serfs all sat at their stations, a mass of cables attached to the backs of their heads as they conversed with the _Planet Killer _directly, working at a speed which would drive the regular serfs of the corpse emperor insane.

"All ships report ready, my lord" one of the serfs mumbled.

Abaddon watched from his throne of skulls as the ten thousand warships of his armada moved into positions. Massive battleships and battlecruisers surrounded his flagship, acting in a way like small frigates and destroyers would protect a cruiser. Battlecruisers, heavy cruisers, battle carriers and cruisers were spread across an area of space of over five thousand kilometres. Small squadrons of escort vessels each surrounded a capital ship from three to nine vessels. Small packs of _Iconoclast _destroyers and _Infidel _raiders skittered around the perimeter, scanners and eyes peeled for any surprise attack.

"Is the first wave ready?"

"Yes my lord"

"Then order them to advance" Abaddon ordered sharply, he knew that this was his final chance to remedy the situation. Sluis Van must fall or the armada was finished.

------

**Sluis Van**

**An hour later**

"They are within range"

"Long range turbolances fire" Grand Admiral Antilles ordered. He sat forward in his command throne and watched as the new hybrid weapon systems opened fire upon the advances Chaos war fleet, peppering the leading vessel with long lances of gold light. A split second later and the rest of the fleet opened up with their own long range turbolance batteries.

"Launch fighters from carrier squadrons one, two and three" he ordered to his communications officer.

A few moments later and the first waves of fighters, bombers and gunships launched from the starfighter carriers. A horde of X-wings, A-wings, V-wings, K-wings and Y-wings joined the Imperial Thunderbolts and Marauders as they slipped past the still bombarding capital-ships and began making attack runs on the Chaos warships. At the head of the swarm was Rogue squadron, the most elite starfighter squadron in the Alliance starfighter corps, under the command of Commander Gavin Darklighter. They were followed by the equally famous 181st Imperial Fighter Group, a cluster of six starfighter squadrons, making a grand total of seventy two Tie Interceptors, Sentinels and Defenders. Spread out across a hundred kilometres of space were twenty similar sized starfighter groups. Each one made of a combination of Alliance, Hapan, Remnant and Imperial starfighter squadrons. Darklighter looked at the mass of TIE fighters following his squadron of X-wings and shook his head, remembering a time when the Rogues fought against the 181st. His reverie was cut short as they came up towards the first line of Chaos ships, a shell of frigates and gunships surrounding the vanguard fleets four cruisers and two battlecruisers.

The frigates opened fire with point laser cannons and lance batteries, forcing the approaching starfighter wings to execute evasive manoeuvres. Several TIE fighters of the 181st turned into bright blooms as light as they were hit by the escort's weapons fire.

"Alright everyone" Gavin said into the com "Bombers set runs on the frigates, fighters and interceptors deal with the fighters"

He received a mass of clicks in response and brought his X-wing into a barrel roll, diving towards a Chaos frigate, his squadron easily keeping up with him. The frigate opened fire with point defence batteries, spewing thin lances of laser fire and tracer rounds from rail guns, the escort's two squadrons of Switdeaths already moving to engage the 181st.

"Prep proton torpedoes for launch" Gavin ordered and immediately started hitting the activation switches, he continued to perform evasive turns and rolls as he approached the frigate and when he was within fifty meters he gave the order. The squadron released their proton torpedoes, appearing as orbs of red light as they collided with the traitor vessels heavily armoured hull. A dozen flashes of blinding light christened their contact with the picket. Explosions replaced the bright light, causing the frigate to visibly shake. A series of secondary explosions broke the vessel apart.

"Nicely done Rogues" Gavin whooped "Now onto the next one"

Across the skirmishes commander Derek Sullivan, leader of the Imperial navies own elite squadrons. A group of a hundred Thunderbolts known as the _Avenger Wing_, made of the most veteran pilots of the Warmasters crusade who survived no less than a hundred engagements with the enemies of the Emperor. Sullivan was the best of the hundred, surviving a hundred and twenty five skirmishes and racking up over two hundred enemy kills. He brought his Thunderbolt into a sharp barrel roll, bringing it up behind an enemy Switdeath and after a few moments of jinking and junking pulled the trigger. The twin laser cannons located on the nose of his fighter spilled tracer rounds of crimson lasfire, catching the Switdeath in its canopy. It exploded a few moments later, bits and pieces of metal clashing with the small starfighters void shields.

He brought his fighter into a dive towards an enemy gunship, jinking and junking to escape its six laser cannons. He locked on and fired a flurry of missiles. His two wing mates released their own salvo of missiles. He then banked away as the missiles struck the gunship, erupting its left side in a series of explosions which tore the small picket apart. Grinning from ear to ear he turned his small fighter right, taking her away from the dying gunship and towards the relative safety of open space, ordering his squadron to reform at that location and plunge back into the fight. Once he reached the sector he looked to his right and the grin was instantly removed from his face.

The main body of Chaos warships had arrived, a massive wall of black shadows which blocked out the stars behind them. The commander imagined the millions of weapon batteries preparing to open fire, the millions of traitors, mutants and Chaos space marines waiting to land on the planet behind him and begin their ground war. At the head of the armada was the massive behemoth known as the _Planet Killer_. The terrible leviathan who was the deciding factor in all the major skirmishes between the Chaos armada and the allied forces of the Coalition, the super battleship which even now was preparing its planet annihilating Armageddon gun for a first shot against the lumbering capital-ships and equally massive space stations defending the mid-rim world of Sluiss Van.

------

"I read over three thousand enemy vessels surrounding the sector capital Warmaster" one of the serfs reported "Surrounding five hundred defence platforms and seven space stations. Enemy fighter wings are harassing the vanguard fleet, casualties heavy"

"Then launch our new pets" Abaddon replied with a smug smirk, it had taken some time but they had finally salvaged the technology of the xeno Ssi Ruuvi, creating several working models of their soul extraction machines. As a mass of black shadows detached from the hull of his flagship and took to the space ways he found himself grinning.

The coalition wouldn't now what hit them.

------

"We have new contacts incoming from the main Chaos armada"

Commander Sullivan looked at the location of the main fleet, seeing massive black clouds of fighters being released from the enemy warships. He couldn't believe it. Instead of being released from the hangers like normal craft these fighters were launching from across the hulls of a handful of the first wave, looking like the cruisers and battlecruisers were shedding a layer of their hull armour. The new fighters, numbering in their thousands dived into the battle. Alliance and Imperium fighters alike were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in numbers. Fighter after fighter fell and exploded in bright blooms of orange flame. Panicked voices shouted over the com systems, only to be silenced one by one when their fighters exploded.

"They're everywhere"

"To your left red two, to your left"

"They don't have cockpits"

"What about the pilot?"

"Don't see one"

"What is going on?"

"Rogue leader to all flights" Gavin Darklighters voice erupted through the panicked com "fall back to the fleet, all fighter groups fall back!!!"

"You heard him gentlemen" Sullivan said to his squadron "Initiate a full withdrawal"

As one his squadron began executing sharp turns towards the defensive fleets around Sluis Van, but not before he saw one of his own get hit in the wing by a hail of lasfire and spin out of control into the depths of space.

"What in the name of the God-Emperor are those things!?"

"I don't know Kagg" Sullivan replied to his wing mate "I don't know"

------

"I want a screen of the skirmish" Wedge Antilles ordered briskly from his command throne "I want a visual of one of the new fighters"

"Yes Grand Admiral"

A holographic image shimmered to life, showing a small crescent shaped starfighter. Its lightly armoured form smaller than any other he had ever seen, having a wingspan of about four meters and a body which was only two meters from the tips of its wings, which were curved inward to its warp drive engines which glowed an eerie crimson at the stern. Small lascannons adorned its nose and the ends of its wings, numbering probably six in total with three bulges of missile launchers, two under its wings and another on the fuselage, each one looking like they could hold probably three missiles each. He noticed the lack of a cockpit, or anything else which could house a pilot.

"Ssi Ruuvi drones" he growled, a chill crawling up his spine as he said those words like a curse "Those bastards have harnessed the Ssi Ruuvi's technology!"

He had fought similar fighters before; they were unmanned, powered instead by the spirit of a person the Ssi Ruuk captured. That person then had their souls sucked from their bodies and implanted in machines from as small as a starfighter to as big as a city. It was a perverse technology, making the Ssi Ruuk enemies of the entire galaxy. The very name of their race was turned into a curse because of the technology they used, and the forces of Chaos had it.

"Killing those fighters would be an act of mercy" mumbled a member of his bridge crew, his communications officer.

"That it would son" Antilles replied "Get me the Warmaster, explain what those fighters are…make it quick"

"Aye sir"

"Order all first contact fighter wings to pull back" he added.

The main force of Chaos warships had come into range of the defensive forces main batteries by now and Antilles already saw the Imperium fleet open fire upon the advancing demons with lance and turbolance batteries. Quickly he ordered his half to do the same and before long full salvoes of turbolaser and turbolance fire joined with the Imperium's own.

A long lance of orange fire shot out of the Chaos ship formations, piercing through a section of the front line, entire fleet squadrons where either destroyed or scattered within its line of fire. It hit the six kilometre long sphere of the targeting space station with a blinding flash, ripping its entire structure apart. A shockwave of raw power flared up in every direction from the doomed space station, throwing small fighters into out of control spins, some crashing into each other or the capital-ships they were defending, which were also being pushed back by the ruinous wave of power. Wedge gritted his teeth as the _Planet Killer _surged forward slightly ahead of the armada. Its long range lance batteries firing a devastating barrage of death and destruction upon the scattered and confused Coalition fleet. Ship after ship fell to the destructive barrage, annihilating escort and capital-ship alike.

Another defence platform exploded in a bright bloom of orange fire. An _Imperial III _star destroyer began spinning out of control, trailing fire and debris from several direct lance battery hits. An Imperium _Exorcist-class _cruiser's entire frontal section went up in flames and smoke. The Grand Admiral fell into his command chair and looked helplessly out at the destruction wrought by one blast from the Armageddon gun, one blast. No vessel in either navy could stand up to the _Planet Killer_, well, not to his knowledge. He slumped into his throne, and nodded his consent to the communications officer, who began issuing secondary protocols. The fleet was to initiate a tactical withdrawal behind the planetary shields. Perhaps they could give them a few hours. As the fleet began withdrawing by squadron he looked at his wrist chrono. The Hapans would be here within ten hours, and the united fleet of Imperium, Alliance, Remnant and Chiss would be arriving within twenty nine hours. They needed to hold off the Chaos armada and survive long enough for them to arrive. If not then the reinforcements would be jumping into an entirely hostile war zone, and get slaughtered.

------

**Imperial Battle-group**

**Twenty nine hours from Sluiss Van**

It was the largest crusade seen in this galaxy thus far, freshly arrived from the Terra/Denon wormhole and now flying through the space ways towards Sluiss Van. At the centre of the crusade was the _Retribution-class _battleship _Imperial Titan_, commanded by Admiral Northland. Three thousand ships of the line were stretched out over an area of a thousand kilometres, each one positioning themselves within their assigned fleet squadrons. The multi coloured hulls of Adeptus Astartes strike cruisers and fast attack frigates located among the thousands of battle scarred cruisers and escorts, their colours and emblems showing their chapter proudly. Standing out from the rest however was the flagship of the Adeptus Astartes, the strike cruiser _Emperor Eternal_, from the infamous Black Templar legion. Other frigates and strike vessels, representing other chapters were forming up flawlessly around her, their markings identifying them as from the Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Blood Angels,\among others.

Admiral Northland sat slouched on his command throne, his mind alert as the warp stretched out before him. Unlike the eighteen hundred vessels which made up the advanced guard they didn't have the time or the resources to install hyperdrive engines, it had to be done the old fashioned way, by traversing the warp. At the moment he was more worried about daemon infestations than of the battle which was to come. Every few hours he would check with the astropaths and shielding officers, making sure that the Gellar fields were firmly in place and they were still on course. No daemon infestation had ever been reported since he had been raised to the rank of admiral, but he knew that it could happen at any given moment.

"Admiral"

Northland brought himself out of his trance by the voice of Captain Hull from the Black Templars, highest ranking member of the astartes contingent and commander of the _Emperor Eternal_. Standing next to the captain was Sergeant Pierce of the _Crimson Fists_, second in command and commander of the chapter's ship, a _Gladius-class _frigate known as the _Crimson Blade_. Standing to the captains left was General Damien Theo, commanding officer of the Imperial Guard regiments, Cardinal Basik of the ecclestriarch and Inquisitor Munculus of the Inquisition.

"Sorry Captain, my mind was elsewhere. Please continue"

"The Hapans will be ahead of us by nineteen hours and the rest of the Alliance will be behind us by two hours" he continued "The thousand plus ships that the Consortium have sent should be enough to hold Chaos off until we and the Alliance arrive…there will be one major obstacle"

"The _Planet Killer_" Northland stated flatly

Hull nodded "It must be taken out of the picture if we are to have a chance to win this battle. I propose we send in as many fighter wings as we can and take out her engines and main weapon emplacements. Then land boarding parties of Space Marines and Imperial Guard, along with crack teams of Stormtroopers, Alliance Marines, ARC troopers and Jedi"

"That ship is an abomination of the warp" Basik shouted in disbelief "And you wish to capture it, this is heresy, this is madness-" the cardinal was silenced by a murderous glare from the much larger Space Marine.

"That ship cannot be destroyed from the exterior" Hull growled "We land boarding parties, fight our way to key positions and plant explosives. Destroy it from the inside"

"It is a costly endeavour captain" Northland said "And I doubt the Jedi will be able to amount the sufficient number of their force-psychers to the specs that you need"

"The Jedi are amassing with the Remnants forces admiral" Pierce said "Did you not hear. Apparently a powerful Jedi warlord known as Anakin Skywalker has been seemingly brought back from the dead, along with thousands of his own force kin"

"Brought back from the dead" Basik said in astonishment "You cannot be serious, that is impossible, it must be a hoax"

"Hoax or not he has three _Eclipse _star dreadnoughts armed with superlasers" Hull returned hotly "This could be the edge we need to take on the _Planet Killer_. Three planet destroying weapons against one"

------

"Order all carrier squadrons to launch fighters immediately" Lord Admiral Frostman ordered briskly before returning his gaze to the battle. Hordes of drones plunged into the coalition fleet, assaulting the shields of the bigger vessels with missile and lasfire, causing the deflector shields to flash blue under the onslaught. Tracer rounds and lines of weapons fire escaped the warships, targeting the swarms as they encompassed entire sections of the fleet. Blooms of orange fire and debris were everywhere, signalling that a drone had met its demise and the soul trapped within it was free.

Masses of starfighters escaped the hangers of any vessel big enough to carry them and met the drones head on, their meeting christened by volleys of lasfire and even more explosions. All the while the Chaos armada continued to approach them, swarms of normal Switdeaths and Doomfires being released from their hangers and hurrying to join the fight.

"Point defences concentrate on those drones" he ordered "Main weapon batteries keep firing upon the approaching fleet. Don't let up no matter what!"

"The _Eternal Empire _has lost her shields sir"

"Order them to fall back to the reserve line" Frostman shouted before turning to his ordnance officer "Mister Jameson, prepare the starboard lance batteries for a salvo on that cruiser" he pointed towards an approaching _Slaughter _cruiser "Wait for my orders"

"Yes sir" Jameson replied and began relaying the order to the gunnery crews.

"Mister Falice" he said, turning to his shielding officer "I want as much power as you can on our starboard shields"

"Yes sir"

"Helmsman Vermount" he continued "Hard to port!"

"Aye sir" the helmsman replied and pulled on the large levers in front of him, turning the ship to port so that her starboard weapons batteries were facing the front of the approaching enemy cruiser.

_Not yet, not yet, not yet…now!!!_

"Now mister Jameson"

"All starboard batteries open fire" Jameson ordered briskly. There was a moment of silence, and then the main batteries opened up in all their terrible glory. A blinding barrage of orange light escaped the twenty main starboard lance batteries, out of the twenty blasts only five found their mark. The first three smashed against the void shields, overloading them and allowing the last two too hit the front, causing several explosions strong enough to level entire cities. The cruiser's frontal section was blown to pieces but it continued to move forward, its main batteries un-phased by the destruction wrought to its front.

"Hit them again" Frostman growled and watched as the lance batteries released yet another salvo upon the cruiser, which was even now turning to bring its broadside to bear. It fired, releasing a steady salvo of deadly dark lance beams towards the _Crimson Ladies _heavily armoured hull.

"Brace for impact" Captain Lythia, his second in command shouted before grabbing the arms of his own command chair. Several lances struck the bow void shields, causing near blinding flashes of sapphire as the beams hit off the shields. The entire battlecruiser shook violently as the full force of the lance beams took their toll.

"Shields have been halved!"

"Decks two, ten and nineteen are open to space. Emergency portals are being shut!"

"Lance batteries?" Frostman growled.

"Reloaded and ready on your orders sir" Jameson replied, blood pouring from a deep cut on the left side of his face.

"Aim, fire"

The starboard lance batteries of the massive battlecruiser opened fire in unison, pouring lances of superheated energy shells towards the enemy ship. Ten of the twenty struck the portside of the cruiser, tearing through the thick armour. One of the lances landed a successful hit on its warp core, causing it to detonate, taking the rest of the warship with it. A cheer emanated from the bridge crew but was quickly silenced by the Lord Admirals harsh voice. He starred outside of the bridge viewports, seeing a pierced hole of burning wrecks and debris through the main defence line. The _Planet Killer _was moving through it, its weapon batteries swatting escorts and capital ships out of the sky.

"Bring us about helm" Frostman shouted "Gather as many ships as you can. We must stop them from reaching orbit!!"

"Aye sir"

"Where in the name of the emperor is the Warmaster!?"

------

With a grunt of pain Visnik opened his eyes and reached up for something to support himself. He dragged himself into a sitting position and leaned against a railing, waiting a few moments for his vision to return. The last salvo of dark lance fire had struck and overwhelmed the void shields of his battleship, peppering the portside and burning the armoured layers away. The shock of the attack had left his bridge in utter Chaos, several consoles had exploded in hails of sparks, either killing or wounding several members of his crew.

He was helped to his feet by Captain Hallias, second in command of the _Infinitas Imperialus _"Are you alright sir?"

Visnik waved the man off and dragged himself back towards his command throne, falling into the worn leather and beginning to hit runes on the arm. Several holograms appeared around him showing damage reports from across the battleship.

"Damage report!" he roared.

"Several sections of the portside hull have been burned through. Decks three, four, six, eight, ten, twelve and eighteen are open to space. Main lance batteries two, five and seven are out of commission, Shields on our portside are down to twenty percent" the captain replied, his voice and gesture grim.

"Close off the sections open to space" Visnik began "Divert all nonessential power to the port shields"

"Warmaster, the enemy battleship is coming around"

Visnik glared out of the main viewports at the _Despoiler _battleship responsible for causing the damage to his ship, the enemy capital ship had come up right beside them and released a full barrage of dark lance fire from their fifty something main lance batteries. At such a close range the void shields had been overwhelmed within the first few strikes.

"Ordnance" he shouted angrily "Situation with starboard main batteries?"

"Loaded and ready Warmaster"

"Wait for my signal" Visnik spat and sat back in his command throne, his eyes watching and waiting as the enemy battleship continued its turn. Bringing its portside guns to bear on his battleship, ready to finish them off once and for all, he waited as it approached his position.

"It's right on us!" Hallias all but screamed.

"Fire" Visnik said boomingly, his eyes hardened in menace. As one the main lance batteries of the _Imperialus _opened up in all their terrible glory, the force of the release causing the battleship to rock sharply from the discharge. The beams crashed into the enemy battleship before she could return fire. Piercing through the void shields and hull armour, massive flashes and explosions hammered the portside of the _Despoiler_, burning straight though its thick hull armour and opening entire sections up to space, one of the lances of superheated energy hit the command tower, causing it to explode, taking the enemy commander and his bridge crew with it. When the battered Imperial flagship and the enemy battleship passed by each other the _Despoiler _was a burning hulk in space, secondary explosions covering its hull from stem to stern like a blanket of crimson fire and a final, resounding explosion finished the enemy capital ship as its warp core detonated. Visnik hid a smile, that was for his ship and the countless men and women who died in that cowardly attack. He watched as a group of Chaos cruisers fell upon his position and quickly ordered his ordnance officer to reload the main lance batteries.

------

"My lord" one of the serfs called in the usual deadpan voice "We are within range of the planet now sir…but there seems to be a planetary shield surrounding it, until it is destroyed orbital bombardment will be impossible"

"What about landing troops?" the Warmaster growled.

"The shield is only designed to stop weapons fire" the serf answered "Troop transports and drop pods can still reach the surface"

The Warmaster watched the dancing lights of weapons fire and explosions from his skull throne, grinning at the destruction that his armada was unleashing. If this was how his reign as the gods chosen was to end then he would destroy as many of his enemies as he could. He stood up from his skull throne, the daemon sword Drauch'nyun held proudly in his gauntlets. He looked down at his sword, then at the rocky world below and grinned maniacally.

"Launch drop pods, release troop transports. Let this world burn!" the Warmaster ordered, not even sparring a second glance at the planet where the fate of his crusade would be decided "Order all main guns to open fire on the planetary shield, frontal lances only, have all others annihilate any enemy ships that even dare getting close"

On the portside of the monolithic _Planet Killer_ several hundred exterior portals opened up to the darkness of space, allowing drop pods to roar out like missiles and drop like stones down to the planets atmosphere. Their forms suddenly encompassed with fire as they rushed through the atmosphere and into the upper troposphere. As the ground rapidly came up to meet them the pods activated their thrusters, slowing their descent enough so that they weren't crushed when they hit the ground. They hit, causing craters in otherwise strong concrete, even crashing through buildings of transparisteel. The outer walls of the pods fell open and shock squads of Chaos space marines, Chaos dreadnoughts and predator tanks poured out into the cityscape, firing with bolter, flamethrower and rocket launcher into the buildings surrounding them, cutting down bewildered soldiers with ease. They had landed in the middle of a rallying point.

Meanwhile in orbit around the planet the warp born flagship of the forces of Chaos aimed all of her frontal lance and plasma batteries upon the brown orb before them and opened fire. Hundreds of long beams of light, superheated and powerful enough to crack the crust of a world smashed into the planetary shields defending the planet, christened by orange flashes and blueish flickering as the deflector shield became visible. Around the super battleship the fight for Sluis Van was far from over, the defensive line may have been broken but the coalition forces had one last trick up their sleeves. A trick which could slow down or possibly stop other Chaos capital ships from reaching orbit. All they needed was the arrival of the Hapans. If they came in time.


	57. Battle of Sluis Van: The Armies of Hell

_**Chapter 58**_

_**Battle of Sluis Van**_

_**The Armies of Hell**_

Shrieking whistles and deafening roars woke Nolani Dinn with a start. She sat stark upright on the sofa she was lying on and quickly got up, grabbing her cloak and draping it around her slender shoulders as she ran. Nolani was a young woman with a willowy appearance. Her skin was porcelain white with long black hair. She wore a simple leather jumpsuit under her cloak with a lightsabre hilt and blaster pistol clipped to a loose belt.

She threw herself out the awning of her tent and ran into the controlled chaos taking place around her. The Coalition 13th Divisions central head quarters was positioned in the middle of a large stadium, the main ground full of tents housing armouries, barracks, repair pads, landing pads and centres of operations. Four anti-air guns were positioned across the landing field, Lemon Russ battle tanks were positioned at all the entrances. Platoons of Imperial Guardsmen and Alliance Marines were all running to defensive positions across the entire stadium, placing stubber machine guns and mounted blast cannons on all the high crevices and tiers. Quickly she ran into the command centre, passing by consoles and tables full of communications operators and aides before entering the central command tent.

"General" a voice called out to her over the chaos, Nolani turned around in time to see the armoured form of commander Halls, fully dressed in the white armour with blue markings of an ARC trooper. Looking at him Nolani felt like she was taking a step into the past. Shrugging off the sensation she stepped forward and caught his attention.

"What is happening commander?"

"Apologies general, I didn't want to wake you until I got all the information" Nolani nodded and motioned him to continue. She looked around as he gave his report, seeing crews of men running towards their tanks and walkers, clambering in and starting them up. Even now Lemon Russ battle tanks were filing out of the landing field with lines of men taking up positions around them.

"Chaos drop pods have hit key sections of the city" the commander reported "The local defenders were taken completely by surprise and are being slaughtered"

"This is a little much for a few squads of shock troopers" Nolani said, mostly to herself as she saw the entire battalion begin to move out,

"The division is being rerouted to the trenches surrounding the city" Halls replied "The entire army is moving to the trench systems, a massive Chaos army is heading this way"

"What about your ARC's?"

"We haven't received any orders yet general"

"Gather your company commander, understood?"

"Yes general" Halls replied before taking off through the hordes of men and vehicles towards the tents where his company were situated. He returned a few minutes later with roughly a hundred ARC troopers. At a word from the commander they quickly came to attention in a column twenty wide and five deep, E-17 blaster rifles held ceremonially against their chests. Nolani looked them up and down. They wore the white armour of regular stormtroopers except for red and blue markings along their helmets, sides and legs. Satchels were arrayed around their belts and on their armour holding blaster magazines, grenades, a blaster pistol and a combat knife.

"Listen up" she began, raising her voice over the grinding of machines and the roaring of officers "Chaos shock squads have infiltrated the city. It is most likely several squads of Chaos Space Marines with a few tanks and dreadnoughts. The division are moving out to join the main army outside of the city"

"Aren't we supposed to join with the rest of the division general?" one of the lieutenants asked.

"We should and we will" Nolani replied "But not until we deal with the enemy behind us. If we don't take out those marines then we will have the main army in front of us and those shock squads behind us…try and grab a few hover tanks and split yourselves up into your platoons, take out the shock squads and return here" she then turned to Halls "Commander you take the first platoon and deal with the infiltration in sector seven, I'll take the second and deal with the enemy at sector eleven. Pick your three most able officers to lead the other platoons and send them to sectors five, twelve and fifteen"

"Yes general" Halls nodded before turning to his company "First Platoon to me, second platoon to Jedi Dinn, third to lieutenant Aryis, fourth to lieutenant Corven and fifth to lieutenant Bakanen. Move out!!!"

------

"Move it you dogs" Commissar Cheznev bellowed. Waving his bolt pistol as the Imperial Guardsmen ran to their positions carrying stubber machine guns, mortars and las-cannons to positions along the trench line. Five thousand guardsmen were positioned in a straight line along the meter and a half deep trench, their lasrifles leaning against the crevice, every now and then the line would be broken by a stubber or las-cannon.

Behind the trench system was a line of twenty Lemon Russ tanks, main guns trained on the land beyond the trenches, ready to open fire at a moments notice. Snipers were lying in their camouflage nets in and behind the trench line, some lying on the tanks for a better vantage point. Mortars were placed behind the tanks, their teams protected by the mass of armour in front of them. It was getting dark, the sun was setting on the horizon and the small specks of stars began to become visible in the darkness. Rain was beginning to fall, starting off as a simple drizzle and quickly beginning to pelt the dusty ground, kicking up masses of dust creating a dank reddish mist which was beginning to block out the darkening skies.

"I see torches" one of the guards shouted and immediately all other noise was drowned out by the clacking of five thousand bodies as they jumped up to their firing positions, five thousand lasguns loaded and aiming towards the torches which were even now multiplying. Thousands of lights lit up the distance, their eerie glow showing the distorted outlines of Traitor Guard, mutants, tanks and walkers, all lead by Chaos Space Marines and Terminators.

"Why do they always come out at night" Cheznev growled as he watched the eerie red torches multiply to thousands, then tens of thousands. Chants began to punctuate the night sky, thousands of rasping voices calling out to their dark gods "Choose your targets. One shot one kill. Let's send these traitorous dogs back to the warp they love so much!!!"

"For the emperor" the guards began chanting in response, their own voices rising in volume as the Chaos warriors continued to approach. Besides himself Cheznev began chanting with the men as they shouted their prayers at the advancing traitors. Chants like 'We are Cadians, we are your worst nightmare' and 'For the Primarchs and the Emperor' began to mix in with the original mantra.

Then the first shot was fired, and the area of land between the two armies was lit up by the discharges of thousands of lasrifles, blasters and bolters. The corps of tanks behind the trench opened fire, their powerful main guns discharging high powered explosive shells towards the ranks of Chaos soldiers, mortars surged into the air, trailing black wisps of smoke as they took to the skies and detonated as they hit the ground, throwing dirt, debris and bodies into the air. A black Lemon Russ tank took a direct hit from a mortar shell, taking off its main gun, it continued moving for a few feet before a shell from one of the opposing tanks, exploding its front section and sending pieces of armoured metal and body parts flying. Entire rows of men were taken out by mortar, artillery and machine gun fire.

Cheznev continued firing rounds from his bolt pistol, tearing holes into the chests and heads of approaching enemy soldiers. He stopped shooting when he heard the sounds of massive feet smashing off the rocky ground. He strained his vision into the misty darkness but saw nothing.

"Lieutenant" he shouted to a recently promoted twenty something year old man "I need a few flares!!!"

The lieutenant nodded and called over a communications officer, a few minutes passed before several flares were loaded in the mortars and fired. They must have shot a hundred feet into the air before exploding with a dim bang, illuminating the area two hundred meters around them in faint light. What the commissar saw lumbering across the field made his heart sink, massive walkers, their armoured forms able to handle tank shells and superheated plasma, their boxy heads armed with laser cannons and missile launchers and their large mechanical limps holding them up, making them eight meters tall. Six AT-AT walkers, their thick armour smeared with blood and corpses, Chaos insignias etched into their sides lumbered towards them, several dozen predator tanks screaming along at their feet.

"AT-AT's" one of the lieutenants screamed "How the hell did they get their hands on those!!!?"

The AT-AT walkers immediately opened fire upon the trench line, its main laser cannons mounted on its boxy head spewing out torrents of lasfire. The beams of crimson light smashed into the ground, bombarding the trenches and forces the soldiers to take cover. A few lances hit the trenches, sending men and debris flying in different directions. Their devastating barrage was met by the tanks at their feet who fired their own salvo of superheated shells upon the trenches and the tanks positioned behind them. A Lemon Russ exploded under the barrage, and then another.

"Hold your positions you cowardly dogs" Cheznev screamed over the explosions and screams. His bolt pistol held threateningly like he was going to shoot someone at a moments notice. One of the Guards dropped his lasgun and began clambering out of the other side of the trench, only to be shot in the back by the Commissars bolt pistol. His lifeless body falling back into the trench, as the other guardsmen turned to see the corpse the commissar fixed them all with a murderous glare, sending them all back to their posts.

No one ran from a battle until he gave them the order too. They would die for the emperor today. They would die in a state of grace. Or they would die as traitors and be banished to the warp than to the emperor's right hand. Another set of crimson lances flew over his position, nearly deafening him from the ear popping screeches they made. The AT-AT walkers continued their advance, the barrage from mortar squads and tanks exploding almost harmlessly off their thick armour.

------

From the backs of the towering AT-AT walkers stood Remius Hasbatos, Raptor Champion of the Emperors Children Legion. He looked down upon the trench lines of the corpse emperor and their naïve allies. His magnetic boots keeping him firmly in place as the walker he stood on rocked from side to side. Behind him stood a full squad of Chaos Raptors, fully dressed in their armour of purple, black and gold, armed with chain-swords, power-swords and bolt pistols as well as the massive bulky jet packs attached to the back of their armour.

"Rrragh" Brother Savv growled "When do we attack!"

"Soon brother soon" Remius muttered, his eyes not leaving the chaos taking place below him. A stray lance of blaster fire struck his shoulder plate, making him take a step backwards. He looked down at his shoulder plate, seeing that the armour was slightly charred. He revved his chain-sword, his nostrils taking in the smell of the toxic fumes that escaped with its discharge. Tremors of pleasure ran through his body with the promise of spilling blood for Slaanesh.

"Brothers" he called, raising his chain-sword into the smog filled sky and pulling the trigger on its handle, allowing it to rev to life. His fellow brothers all raised their swords and bolt pistols into the air and screamed war cries. With a grin the champion activated his jet pack and took off from the Chaos AT-AT, his pack trailing fire and deep black smog in his wake. His marines took off after him, adding more trails of black smoke to his own.

They landed in the very centre of the trench line and immediately set to work, swinging their power and chain swords like madmen. The Guardsmen near them didn't stand a chance, being cut into pieces by the mad traitor marines. Similar squads of Raptors took off from the backs of the other walkers and landed in different sections of the trench, beginning their own paths of death and spilt blood. Remius laughed sadistically as he revved his chain-sword and ripped through the abdomen of a sergeant, the chain-saw blade spilled blood, splintered bone and obliterated organs. He quickly put a bolter round through the head of another guard, turning it into a wisp of red mist. He then put another two rounds into the one behind the first, leaving two gapping holes in his chest and abdomen.

The trench was about ten meters wide which gave the marines plenty of room to manoeuvre. The guardsmen surrounding them were so confused by the sudden surprise attack that they couldn't rally against the rampaging raptors. But it was just a matter of time before they did. Four Guards formed up in a line, aimed their lasguns and fired. Most of the shots bounced off their armour, but one shot was lucky, catching a marine in a weakened section of his armour and searing through his neck. The raptor screamed and fell, but not before he spun, swinging his chain-sword in a sweeping ark and cutting three guards in two at the abdomen.

The other Chaos marines acted immediately to the death of their comrade, activating they're jump packs for a short burst and landing on top of the four guards, cutting them to pieces with their weapons. Commissar Cheznev ran at them, drawing his power-sword and stabbing the blade into the chest of one of the raptors, the traitor marine looked down at the old man, eyes alive with red energy. The commissar ducked a fist which could have imploded his skull and rolled away, drawing his bolt pistol in mid roll and coming up in a kneeling positioned, aiming at the raptor. The towering immortal had pulled the power-sword out of his chest and threw it away. Growling angrily the commissar raised his pistol and put several rounds into the marine's chest as he approached. Finally he brought the towering giant to his knees, the commissar walked over to the marine who looked up at him and moved to grab his power-sword. The commissar quickly raised his pistol and put a round through his head.

Fast, heavy footfalls and revving metal made the commissar spin around to see another Chaos marine running towards him, chain-sword revving with screeching metal and belching black smoke, before the commissar could react to the approaching giant the sword grinded into his body, ripping him in two from his left shoulder all the way down to his right waist.

"Slaughter them all" Champion Hasbatos yelled "Leave none alive, for the glory of the dark gods!!!"

------

Alema Rar, Jedi knight and general in the Galactic Alliance looked down from the cockpit of her X-wing starfighter, tilting the fighter to the right to get a better look at the battle taking place far below. It obviously wasn't going well. The Alliance and Imperial forces were getting hammered by the approaching Chaos armour including tanks and unbelievably enough a half dozen AT-AT walkers. Waves of mutants, cultists and traitor guard charged the heavily fortified positions and were mowed down by artillery, stubber gun, las-cannon, blast cannon and rifle fire.

"Cobalt leader to Cobalt squadron" she said into the com frequency "Prepare for attack run on Chaos positions. Target AT-AT and major troop concentrations, and good hunting"

A mass of clicks came over the com from the other pilots before they all began manoeuvring into a dive towards the surface. When they were within a hundred meters they began pulling up slightly, bringing them on a direct course with the advancing ranks of Chaos infantry and armour. Alema armed her torpedo launchers and released a duo of proton torpedoes upon the nearest AT-AT. The balls of red light collided with the left side of the walker, tearing through its heavy armour. The force of the explosions threw the walker on its side where a group of internal explosions finished the job. The Twi'lek Jedi grinned, as strong as the armour on these walkers was a good few proton torpedoes always got the job done.

She hesitated for a second longer and then pulled up her snubfighter sharply, bringing it a few meters level to the ground. Chaos troops below her took cover as her fighter flew overhead, kicking up dust and wind as it passed their positions. She passed under the head of a walker and tried pulling up. By know the Chaos troopers below her had regained their senses and were firing sporadically upon her little fighter, bolter rounds, plasma and lasfire collided with her fuselage shields which began to flicker

Her astromech droid screeched as her deflector shield began to flicker and instinctively the Twi'lek pulled up hard on her joystick, bringing her snubfighter into a steep climb, the force behind the climb forcing her back into her crash webbing. As she brought her fighter out of its climb she peeked at her shield indicators and exhaled a breath, another barrage would have punctured her shields and sliced into her fuselage.

"Cobalt leader to Cobalt squadron, form up around me"

------

The bridge of the _Executer _was a site of controlled chaos as operators and ensigns worked feverishly at their stations, their superior officers watching their every move carefully to make sure everyone was doing their assigned tasks to the letter. On the walkways above the chaotic crew pits it was fairly quieter. Soldiers were at their guard posts at the entrances and key points along the bridge, ever alert and ready to move at a moments notice. At the head of the main walkway, overlooking the frontal viewport and the long lines of hyperspace was Anakin Skywalker, Jedi masters Yoda, Mace Windu and Plo Koon standing at his side.

A little further behind them was a group of seven Jedi knights and masters, dressed in simple Jedi attire with their lightsabre hilts hooked to their belts. All were Jedi whom had been rescued from raids of Chaos occupied worlds and star systems. Anakin's former master Obi-wan Kenobi stood beside the love of his life, the blonde haired and lithe Siri Tachi, the equally slender form of Aayla Secura stood beside her followed by the Nautalon Jedi master Kit Fisto, Jedi healers Barriss Offee and Luminara Undali were next followed finally by Jedi master Shaak Ti.

"First off" he began as he turned to his guests, a number of Jedi who had been saved during the behind enemy lines raids on Chaos outposts and fortress worlds "Its good to see you all out of the infirmary"

The seven Jedi nodded their affirmative, some with small smiles, and others with faces of stone. All were heavily bandaged with wrappings around their arms, legs, abdomen and torso. It was quite obvious that the high ranking daemon responsible had unleashed almost every type of torture possible, and a few that weren't. In fact if it wasn't for the actions of the Watcher, a Jedi immortal whom the daemon princess had imprisoned, at least two of them would not be standing in front of him now. Even now he wondered where the immortal had gone. He vanished some time later without a trace.

"As you all know we are about to enter a maelstrom. The decisive battle of this war has begun without us" Anakin continued "The enemy armada has been cut off with their defeat at Bakura, and the failure here has only stacked the deck even more in our favour. The Hapans and the Imperials will be there before us and no doubt help tip this battle further in our scale…even then the odds will be even"

"This will be a monumental battle and I am short on command staff. You are all hereby promoted to the rank of General. You answer to senior generals Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon and myself" he looked into each of their faces before speaking again "I am not blind to what some will think so if you all find a problem with my leadership then I will stand down" This caught the Jedi in attendance completely by surprise. Even the three senior masters flanking him looked slightly baffled by the chosen ones words. Anakin meant every word he said, it would not be wise to go into battle with a leader which the others did not trust. There was a more personal reason for this however, his own guilt at being responsible, even partly, for the deaths of all who stood before him made him fell like he was being judged. With a deep breath Obi-wan stepped forward.

"Anakin many of us were weary of you taking full command of the fleet at the beginning" Obi-wan saw Anakin wince and grimaced "But during the events of this war we have seen a change in you. You think with a clear head, you don't let your emotions judge your actions and you obviously carry a heavy burden of guilt. Well we will say this here and now…I forgive you"

"As do I" Aayla added and was followed by similar words the others in attendance. With each one saying that they truthfully forgave him, Anakin felt his heart get a little lighter. It was only a fraction but to him it made all the difference.

"Thank you, all of you" Anakin replied, bowing deeply and humbly before his friends, no his family. They may not be related by blood, but they were as close as family none the less. As the newly appointed Generals began filing out of the chamber Obi-wan walked up to Anakin, and as he came beside him saw tears run down the chosen ones cheeks.

"Anakin" Obi-wan asked, placing a hand on his former pupils shoulder "Are you all right?"

Anakin immediately wiped the tears away, shook his head gently and spoke "Just got something in my eyes master"

------

Nolani scrambled up the mound of rubble towards its peak, trying her best to ignore the half buried bodies and severed limbs of people who had perished when the building had collapsed. She continued to make her way up until she came upon what she was looking for. A section of the wall was still intact, just high enough to supply suitable cover from enemy return fire. She jumped up and sat against the ragged wall, leaning against its cool stone and taking a deep breath before rising slightly and gazing over into the courtyard beyond.

The Chaos marines were there alright, about nine of them spread out across the yard. Six of them were armed with bolters, another with a heavy bolter and one more with a flamer. A Chaos champion stood in their centre, his helmet off revealing a bald head which was pale and scarred, the banner of his chapter fluttered above him in the slight winds, attached to the pack at the back of his armour. Unlike his fellows he was armed with a simple bolt pistol and power-sword.

Slowly Nolani raised her hand, summoning the platoon she was commanding to her position. A few moments later and the twenty ARC troopers were around her, taking up positions along the walls remains. Either aiming their E-17 blaster rifles at the Chaos marines or mounting the two blast cannons they requisitioned from the division armoury to the walls. The Jedi grabbed the electrobinoculars around her neck and looked through them, adjusting knobs to make the picture zoom in and become clearer.

Several of the marines weren't walking normally, but limping like they had already been wounded in a previous engagement. She gasped as she zoomed in closer, there were openings in the marines armour, gunshot and slash wounds most likely which were festering with many different varieties of infection. The helmets of these marines looked more like gasmasks than normal war helms and through bulbous eye visors she glimpsed bloodshot eyes.

"Plague Marines" she gasped. She had heard horror stories about these specialists. They were the chosen warriors of Nurgle, the Chaos god of disease and infection. He hand picked these warriors and made them walking vats, holding every deadly disease that humanity had ever encountered. These Plague Marines were in turn made immune to the contaminants effects but on many occasions even they succumbed. It was said that entire battles had been won once these monstrosities gained a foothold in an enemy army, spreading the diseases, breaking the enemy soldier in body and mind.

"It appears you made a good call in hunting these things down general" one of the ARC troopers beside her whispered "Force knows what would happen if they assaulted the army from behind"

She nodded, removing the meter long sniper rifle which was slung to her back and leaned it against the stone wall. Her breath steady, her grip firm she looked through the sight, gaining a close look at the Chaos champions exposed head. She didn't grin, didn't show any sign of emotion, her face, her entire body was like stone. Then she pulled the trigger and a shot rang out into the courtyard. The Plague Marines were instantly alert and began running for cover in the debris strewn central plaza. Their champion did not join them, for he lay on the ground, a pool of blood forming on the concrete ground from the hole in his head.

The shot was the signal and immediately blaster rifles and blast cannons opened fire, spraying the courtyard with blaster bolts. Another two Plague Marines fell to the ground dead before the others could find cover. When they did they returned fire, bolters rang out into the night, followed by the clacking of a heavy bolter being discharged. We didn't get the one with the heavy bolter, Nolani thought with a snarl before looking through the sight of her rifle, calmly scanning the surrounding ground for another disease ridden Marine.

An ARC trooper took a bolter round to the head, disintegrating it in a haze of red mist before the headless corpse fell backwards. Nolani took cover behind the barrier, grabbing the ARC beside her by the helmet and forcing him down with her as a spray of bolter shells impacted off the wall. A choked cry sounded from further down the line as another ARC took a direct hit from the heavy bolter, causing him to explode in a mass of organs, blood and splintered bones.

"Sith me" Nolani growled before peeking over the fortifications and firing off a well aimed shot at the Plague Marine holding the Heavy Bolter. The towering behemoth took it in the shoulder, causing him to stumble slightly, he regained his footing however and continued to pour heavy fire upon the wall, which by know was pocketed by dozens of impacts.

The blast cannons continued to fire barrages of suppressing fire, catching another Plague Marine as he tried to change positions and peppering his armour with blaster bolts. For a long tormenting moment the marine stood there, taking the explosive rounds of crimson energy before succumbing with a roar and falling back to the ground, his entire body smoking. A barrage of bolter fire clanged out from the remains of an office block across the courtyard, peppering the position where one of the blast cannons was and killed its two gunners. Nolani calmed her mind through deep meditative breathes and, aiming carefully took out another Marine with her sniper rifle. She let the empty, smoking magazine fall to the ground before shoving another in and once again aiming through the sight.

Another ARC trooper fell to bolter fire bringing the fatalities to eight troopers. She counted five enemy marines lying on the ground. This was going to be a very costly skirmish. Suddenly a jet of flame shot out from the far side of the line, encompassing three ARC troopers. Their screams resounded through the air, bringing a chill to Nolani's entire body as they fell from the battlements, their bodies on fire and smouldering.

She spun, dropping her sniper rifle and grabbing her lightsabre from her belt as the marine carrying the flamethrower limped up the battlements. With a blur of motion she ignited the blade and force-jumped at the marine, her sapphire blade lighting up the night air. The marine aimed his flamethrower and pulled the trigger, sending out a spray of fire at Nolani. The flames touched her robes, setting them on fire. The Jedi quickly disposed of them and force pushed herself over the flames, smelling the burned ozone and feeling the heat on her pale skin. She swung her lightsabre as she somersaulted over him, taking his head of his mutated and disease ridden body which in turn fell sideways, rolling down the rubble and debris to the ground.

A shell impacted against the far wall, blasting straight through it and killing another two ARC troopers. A predator assault tank had just became visible and was approaching their position, its two side guns and main cannon firing a steady stream of explosive shells.

"Damn it" Nolani muttered before running over to a lieutenant and taping him on the shoulder "We cannot hold here, initiate a tactical withdrawal!!!"

"Yes general" the lieutenant replied.

------

"All portside lance batteries fire" Frostman shouted to his ordnance officer, his fury clearly visible in the red tinted light of the bridge. The twenty plus lance batteries of the _Overlord-class _battlecruiser opened up with a terrifying series of booms, long lances of orange light cascading through space and colliding with the _Tyrant-class _cruiser which was duelling them. The obsolete warships entire starboard side erupted in explosions and smoke. A series of internal detonations from ammunition stores caused more damage to the Cruiser, forcing it to initiate evasive manoeuvres to make an escape. No such luck.

"Order the _Terran Star _to finish the job" Frostman ordered to his communications officer, who swiftly began sending the order to the _Terran Star_, a _Dominator-class _cruiser. The artillery cruiser fired a round with its mounted nova cannon, the high powered shell colliding with the retreating Chaos cruisers aft section and ripping it apart, for a moment the enemy vessel hung in space before vanishing in a flash of light as its warp core detonated.

"Give captain Donahue my regards" Frostman grinned before turning to his ordnance officer "Mister Jameson order the port lance batteries to reload" he then turned to the front of the bridge, his eyes focusing on his helmsman "Mister Vermount full speed and bring her about fifty degrees to starboard. Miss Shafer ask the _Terran Star _and her escorts to accompany us"

"Yes sir"

The Lord Admiral settled into his command throne, his hands clasped together as he looked out the massive viewports. In that direction was a small taskforce of Alliance star destroyers being harassed by a trio of Chaos cruisers. He would save them and have them gather with the remaining escorts to the rendezvous point at the other side of the planet. Chaos had pushed them back and had taken over a full half of Sluis Van's orbit. Thankfully the planetary shields were up and holding well against the Chaos orbital bombardments and the shipyards were still safely under Coalition control. The _Planet Killer _remained where she was in orbit, not bothering to pursue the Coalition fleet, but instead was hammering away at the shields with enough firepower to destroy a small taskforce.

"Sir the _Terran Star _reports that she is winthin range of the closest cruiser"

"Than by all means" Frostman replied and watched as the nova cannon opened fire again, releasing yet another ship destroying projectile. The shell collided with the cruisers portside, eradicating its void shields with one simple stroke. The _Eternal Empire_, a _Gothic-class _cruiser followed up by firing its starboard lance batteries, causing the enemy ships now unprotected portside to bloom from several explosions. The star destroyers saw their chance and lumbered out of the Chaos cruisers net. Making a run for the relative safety of Frostmans hastily put together taskforce, which even now was made up of the Lord Admirals _Overload-class _battlecruiser, _Crimson Lady_, _The Terran Star_, the _Gothic-class _cruisers _Eternal Empire _and _Firelord_, and four _Sword-class _frigates.

Once the star destroyers were out of the firing line the taskforce released a salvo of long range lance fire upon the cruisers, most of the barrage aimed at the struggling _Murder-class _cruiser which the _Star _had hit just a few moments earlier. The limping capital ship didn't stand a chance. The barrage struck it's portside, hitting it again and again until it simply disintegrated under the bombardment. Another shell from the _Star _collided with the dorsal section of the second _Murder _cruiser. Just a graze, but enough to pulverize its void shield and char the armour black.

"My lord we are being hailed by the lead star destroyer, the _Dominion_"

"Put him through"

The _Dominion _came up on the holo-screen, a sleekly designed _Nebula-class _star destroyer which looked like a jewel within the defensive formation of old _Imperial-class _star destroyers. Another image appeared beside it, the form of the taskforces commanding officer, a tall human man with angular features, black hair in a military cut and dull brown eyes.

"I am Captain Shao of the _Dominion_" he introduced with a flawless salute "Thank you for the save sir, we owe you"

"Captain Shao, I am Lord Admiral Quincy Frostman" he replied "We are currently initiating a retreat to the second point to rally with the remaining Coalition fleet, you shall accompany us"

"Understood Lord Admiral" Shao said with another salute before his hologram flickered out. Frostman leaned back into the worn leather of his command throne and ordered the taskforce to continue onward to the safe zone. Exchanging long range fire with enemy capital ships as they approached the Coalition controlled zones. In the distance the Lord Admiral could make out turbolaser, turbolance and lance fire between the opposing factions, coupled with blooms of explosions from dying capital ships and destroyed fighters.

------

"Coalition forces being overrun in sectors three, five, nine, ten, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen" the servitor reported from his station "Sections four, six, seven and eleven have been overrun by Chaotic forces. Alliance Grand Admiral has authorized a withdrawal to the second line sectors"

"Order our forces to follow suit" Visnik ordered, he had not sat in his throne since they had withdrawn to the night side of Sluis Van. Instead he was pacing across the bridge like a caged animal, shouting orders and threats to not just his bridge crew, but his commanders as well. The port lance batteries of his battleship fired another combined salvo of fire upon the approaching Chaos ships, causing his vessel to rock wildly from the discharge like an old era sea ship caught in a storm while hundreds of smaller plasma, laser and rail-guns fired continuous streams of projectiles into the surrounding kill zone, trying to hit the small swarms of enemy fighters which were strafing his command ship.

"Sir we're picking up hyperspace signals in sector thirty" his sensor officer reported from his post "Bearing ninety degrees at sector one two zero angel two" the officer brought his face closer to the display readings, his features creased in concentration as new information scrolled down the screen "Receiving a signal, it's the Hapan's my lord. The Hapan's have arrived!"

Over twenty thousand kilometres out from the planet the battle-group of the Hapan navy arrived. Thirty Battle-Dragons lead the fleet into the system, they in turn surrounded by hundreds of four hundred meter long _Nova-class _battlecruisers and several dozen modified _Imperial-class _star destroyers. At the head of the fleet was the modified Royal Battle-Dragon _Song of War_, a vessel twice the size of a regular battle-dragon and containing three times the firepower of its smaller cousins. Standing on the bridge of the _Song of War _was Tenel Ka, Jedi knight and current Queen Mother of the Hapan Consortium. She, like the rest of her race was incredibly beautiful with angular features, long rusty brown hair and piercing grey eyes. Her body was slim and physically fit; despite the emerald and gold royal robes she wore which covered her form. A lightsabre hilt was clipped to a belt at her waist, a sign of her pride at being a Jedi.

"My Queen" Duke Lestat said as he approached her, dressed in the silver and crimson uniform of a fleet admiral "The Chaos armada has advanced further than anticipated and is even now in control of a full half of the planets orbit"

"What news on Coalition forces?"

"They have successfully withdrawn to the night side of the planet my lady" Lestat answered "Skirmishes on all fronts from advancing Chaotic taskforces but the majority have positioned themselves around the flagship"

"I see. Very well" she said as she drew the royal blade from its scabbard at her waist, holding it firmly in front of her before pointing the blade towards the raging battle beyond. Despite the gravity of the situation her face was set as stone, not showing any emotion, even though her heart was in turmoil, wondering if she should devote a full half of the Hapan fleet to this battle "Order the advance Duke Lestat, let's give our allies a hand"

"Yes my lady" was the Dukes answer.

------

Sergeant Chevron of the Crimson Fists aimed his bolter and fired a spray at the incoming Chaos hordes, killing several before ordering a tactical withdrawal to the edge of the city. His eight fellow marines followed suit, each one grabbing a frag grenade and throwing it into the Cultists. They ducked into their foxholes and waited for the grenades to explode before jumping out and running back to the outer buildings. Across the line other Space Marine groups and detachments of Clone Troopers were remaining at the rear of the retreat, protecting the disorganised Coalition forces as they ran to secondary positions.

As the Crimson Fists dived into the next patch of foxholes they aimed their bolters over the edge and released another salvo, killing more packs of Chaos warriors with every barrage. Further back was the lumbering forms of the Chaos AT-AT walkers, firing their laser cannons into the defensive lines, incinerating entire sections of buildings and blasting trench systems. More diverse barrages of shell fire came from the corps of tanks and artillery vehicles all around them, turning buildings into cratered and half demolished ruins and leaving craters in the concrete ground.

"Brother Sergeant" Brother Noels called from across the line. The Crimson Fists battle-brother was looking up at the sky "Incoming from above!" the sergeant looked up and immediately raised his bolter. Several small tears had appeared in the dark skies, looking like crimson scars in the otherwise slick black atmosphere. Hundreds of winged silhouettes were spewing through them, swarming across the sky and diving towards the city streets.

"Furies" Chevron shouted before aiming his bolter and firing a spray of fire into the air, over half of the Clones and Space Marines in the trenches and foxholes changed their firing solutions to the sky as the Furies glided down towards them. They were nightmarish monsters, their bodies a mass of pink and black muscle, long claws on hands and feet, leathery wings a few meters in diameter and beak like maws armed with lines of dagger like teeth, all designed to rip a victim to pieces in a few seconds.

Several Furies corkscrewed past the barrage and began attacking unsuspecting guardsmen, their claws tearing through chest cavities and piercing limbs before dragging the screaming victim into the skies, ripping them apart with tooth and claw. A wave of furies descended on their position, forcing even more of his battle-brothers to take their attention away from the approaching Cultists and fire sporadically at the fast daemons.

Several daemons got through the barrage and dug their long claws into several Clones, piercing through limbs and chests before dragging them into the air. The Space Marine sergeant took out a fury in midair before one pounced on him. He dropped his bolter, grabbed the struggling daemon and crushed its head with his armoured fist. He then drew his combat knife and grabbing a Cultist stabbed it into his chest. The traitor spat out blood before being thrown back into several of his comrades. Quickly Chevron grabbed his bolter and swung it back, smashing the metal barrel into the face of another cultist before firing into the crowd, killing several more with one five second spray of bolter shells.

Just as the sergeant felt that they would be overrun a barrage of laser fire struck the advancing Cultists, mowing the entire wave down. Chevron was forced to duck as the lasfire peppered the front of his foxhole. He peered over his hole, seeing an X-wing fall towards their position, black smoke billowing from its engines, as it flew overhead the sergeant saw the small muscled forms of Furies dug into the fighter's wings and canopy, ripping through its light armour in an attempt to reach the pilot. The snubfighter struck the ground several meters behind the entrenched Space Marines, spewing debris and pieces of machinery as it hit and forced itself along the street before smashing into the side of a collapsed building.

"Initiate a tactical withdrawal" the sergeant shouted to his Marines "Back to the third line!" The Space marines nodded and fired several more rounds into the confused Cultists before beginning to withdraw. As Chevron made his way up the street he spared a glance at the fallen fighter which had saved his squads life. He considered for a split second. The pilot saved his life and that of his battle brothers. It was only right that he return the favour by saving the pilots life. He suddenly changed direction, running towards the snubfighter. Two of his own Marines saw him and followed their commander. Chevron saw a few of the Furies had survived the crash and stopped, coming down on a knee and firing a short burst, turning one of the daemons into red mist.

"Cover me brothers" Chevron shouted before breaking off into a run towards the fighter, his two battle brothers supplied suppressing fire for him as he ran, sending the last few daemons back to the warp from whence they came. Quickly the sergeant jumped up onto the fighters damaged wing and placing his bolter at the side grabbed the canopy, using his superhuman strength to rip it off and throw it aside. He looked into the canopy and froze.

The pilot was an alien, fairly human looking in appearance with its orange jumpsuit and helmet on. But now that he was close he saw that the helmet had been modified for a head not of hair but of tails, he glimpsed bluish skin, slightly charred by fires that probably came from the now burnt out console. It was a female, a Twi'lek if his reading of xeno information in this galaxy was accurate. Growling he went to leave the woman behind, but before he could move a heavy weight slammed into him, forcing him off the wrecked fighter and onto the ground. He looked up in time to see a Fury fall on him, teeth and claws retracted and ready to cut through his ceramic armour.


	58. Battle of Sluis Van: Forlorn Hope

_**Chapter 59**_

_**Battle of Sluis Van**_

_**Forlorn Hope**_

Sergeant Chevron snapped his neck to the right, and then the left, dodging the beak like maw of the Fury as it tried snapping at his exposed head. He hit his head as he fell from the wrecked starfighter, causing his vision to swim and his strength to leave him. As his vision returned he found his bolter lying several feet out of his reach, his combat knife still sheathed to the small holster on his waist, also just out of reach. His battle brothers were running to him, unable to get off a clear shot for fear of hitting him. They weren't going to make it in time, his brothers knew it and he knew it.

There was a snap and a blade of light cut through the daemons back, piercing straight through where a human's heart would be. The beast shivered before vanishing to crimson mist. With a wave of nausea the Fist slowly sat up and watched as the ice blue blade which he just recognised as a lightsabre shot past him and into the waiting hand of the alien pilot, who was leaning heavily against the area where the canopy once was. She looked at him as she slipped the lightsabre hilt into a holster on her side and managed a weak smile before losing consciousness.

The Crimson Fist snarled, once he could write off as luck but she had saved him twice now. He had to save her, his pride and honour as a Space Marine, an immortal warrior of the Emperor would call for no less. He forced himself up to his feet, hoping that his heavily modified immune system would cope with his possible concussion. He pulled the slender female out of the cockpit, slinging her over his shoulder and took off towards his battle brothers, who were firing at a group of Traitor Guards.

"Withdraw brothers" Chevron ordered as he moved to their side, holding the unconscious xeno with one arm and a bolter in the other, squeezing off shots at any Chaos traitor which reared its ugly face as he issued the order. His brothers nodded and began pulling back, firing off rounds as they went.

Finally they reached the second line of defence. A makeshift barrier of turned over cars and dug up concrete. Imperial Guardsmen, Alliance Marines, Stormtroopers and Space Marines had retreated behind the wall of debris. Mortar teams and tanks were positioned a little further back to supply artillery fire for the line. Other contingents of troops were positioned in the surrounding buildings. Snipers and heavy weapon crews hauling blast cannons and stubbers were positioned at windows while more snipers, machine gun nests and shock squads armed with anti-tank weapons were on the rooftops. Chevron and his two battle brothers clambered over the five meter high barrier before slipping back down. He found his squad along with squads of Blood Ravens and Imperial Scythes either on the barrier or within buildings preparing for the coming assault.

"Medic" Chevron called and waited as a duo of medics bearing the insignias of the Alliance ran up to them. They were both human women, one tall and lean with long black hair tied up in a ponytail while the other was petite with shoulder length blonde hair. He handed them the unconscious pilot, seeing with some amusement as they set her down on the ground, unable to hold up her weight even though she was as light as a feather to the huge marine.

The two medics carefully removed the alien's helmet, causing two long head tails to be released. The Sergeant took a closer look at the xeno who saved him and was saved in return. She had a remarkably human face. Her features sharp and beautiful, her skin, if not charred would have been a deep oceanic blue. The medics checked her vitals before calling for a stretcher to take the Jedi away. He turned to the blonde medic and said "When she wakes up tell her we're even!"

The petite medic, obviously nervous of the massive bioengineered super soldier nodded timidly before turning to help her fellows carry the unconscious Jedi away. The heretical chanting of the approaching Chaos hordes was just barely visible by now, gunfire sounded and artillery fired as they approached. Pushing his thoughts away from his mind Sergeant Chevron of the Crimson Fists reloaded his bolter, pushing an engraved rune to let the empty magazine fall to the ground before slamming a new one in and running to his squad, who were positioning themselves on the barrier. There was a battle which still needed to be fought.

------

Tanneth Blake was one of the lesser Chaos Lords in Abaddons Crusade of the galaxy. A lord of the dreaded blood soaked World Eaters legion, the legion of the blood god himself, the legion of Khorne. He wore the red power armour, with engraved gold of the Blood Legion, a power sword sheathed at his waist and a chain sword slung to his back. He stalked through the city streets completely unafraid of the crimson lasfire and bolter shells, hordes of bony cultists running past him with their crude lasguns and arcane melee weapons, the look in their eyes one of insanity and bloodlust. These shells of men had lost their humanity long ago, just like him.

The Chaos Lord saw the defensive line now and with a grin of wicked insanity drew his power-sword and pointed it at the wall. That was the signal. The Cultists wailed and cried out their devotion to the dark gods as they began running. Traitor Guard broke from their columns and approached more cautiously, making sure that there was some cover near them. The Berserkers had no such concern, they just ran, their war axes held over their heads, mumbling mantras and yelling their allegiances.

"For the Dark Go-" the lead Berserker screamed before a bolter shell struck him in the helm, disintegrating his face. The body just fell forward, vanishing in the advancing swarms of Chaos cannon fodder a few moments later. The other four Berserkers ran on regardless of the death of their comrade. They ran on regardless of the lines of mutants and cultists which were being mowed down all around them. Mortar fire struck the depleting fodder, killing more in explosions of fire, weapons and bloodied bodies. Snipers aimed for the leaders including Champions and Berserkers which were difficult to bring down even with their armour piercing rounds.

Finally the first line reached the base of the barrier and began to climb, none of that wave made it too the top as they were mowed down by suppressing fire from not just the soldiers on the top of the barrier but the machine guns and laser cannons on the rooftops of surrounding buildings. With a roar Blake began running forward within the rapidly dwindling numbers of cannon fodder, as he reached the base he bent his knees and jumped, his superior strength, enhanced by the powers of Chaos allowed him to ascend higher than any regular mortal and land perfectly on the barrier.

The Imperial Guardsmen around him could only look up baffled at the towering immortal in power armour. Tanneth looked down, grinned and decapitated one with a swing of his power sword. He then stabbed the blade through the face of another guard, cleaving it in two like a melon. A stormtrooper came running at him then, his blaster firing sporadically, the crimson bolts ricocheting his armour. Blake's grin did not diminish. He reached back with his free hand and grabbed the hilt of the slung chain sword. The Lord pulled the trigger on the hilt, allowing the chainsaw blade to come to life, he then swung it, the blade grinding through the white armour, splitting bone and splattering blood.

He stood there power sword in one hand, chain sword in the other, both blades covered in oozing layers of crimson blood. Khorne Berserkers chose that moment to clamber over the wall, chanting and laughing as they quenched their thirst for blood by cleaving Imperial Guard and other soldiers into bloodied chunks with chain axes. As the Berserkers jumped down the other side of the barrier to continue the assault on the defenders the lord descended more slowly, more deliberately. There was reason behind this, he was scanning the defenders, Imperial Guardsmen, Remnant Stormtroopers, Alliance marines and to his glee three squads of Space Marines, Imperial Scythes, Crimson Fists and Blood Raven's.

He jumped towards the reorganising line of defenders and stuck his power sword into the chest of another Imperial Guard, using his booted foot to force the dead man off his blade. He swung with his chain sword then, watching with glee as blood spurted and bones were shattered by the contact. He began walking again, watching with excitement as the remaining few soldiers began to back away from him. He crossed his blades, using them as shields against the incoming las and blaster fire.

"Blood for the Blood God" he whispered with a grin "Blood for the blood god, blood for the blood god, blood for the blood god!!!"

"For the great father and the emperor!" a voice replied.

Blake spun in time to block a power sword intent of running him through. Its wielder, a Blood Raven Space Marine brought all of his weight forward and forced him to stumble backwards. The Chaos lord steadied himself and swung with his free chain sword, aiming to cleave the Marine in two. The Blood Raven ducked the decapitating blow and stabbed his sword forward, aiming to pierce through the lord's chest. Tanneth sidestepped, watching with a snarl as the blade skidded across the left side of his armour, sparking as it ricocheted. He then brought his power sword up, aiming to take the Marines sword arm away from him. The Marine sidestepped him this time, spinning on his heel and swinging his sword, aiming towards Blake's head.

As the lesser lord back stepped to dodge the decapitating blow a lightsabre blade ignited to life. Its wielder throwing it in an attempt to cleave through his armoured form and cut him in half. With a roar of annoyance the Chaos lord fell backwards to the ground, dodging the swinging power sword of the Blood Raven and just missing the thrown lightsabre from the Jedi behind him. He rolled away, coming up in a crouch and launched himself at the surprised Blood Raven, bringing down his chain sword and cleaving him in two from his right shoulder all the way down to his right waist. The Marine screamed as he fell to his knees, his arm and a chunk of his side a few feet away from him.

Grinning Blake turned his attention from the dying Marine to the Jedi, a human male wearing brown robes and desperately trying to call his lightsabre back to him. With a roar of anger Blake surged forward, thrusting his power sword into the Jedi's chest before his lightsabre could return to him. He then swung with his chain sword. Taking off the small mans head in a single, bloody swing. Watching the blood ooze from the blades of his weapons Blake threw back his head and laughed, an insane maniacal laugh before bringing his attention back to the battle playing out around him.

"Blood, blood, blood" he cried into the maelstrom "Spill more blood for the blood god, his thirst will be quenched this day!!!"

------

Far away from the battle, within the bleeding confines of the eye of terror the dark entities of the warp watched as the decisive battle between their forces and the combined armies of the Coalition continued battering each other. This battle meant everything. Victory meant a clear path into the core worlds, the central holdings of the galaxy spanning Galactic Alliance. Defeat meant the shattering of one of the biggest Black Crusades ever assembled, a crusade which matched the thirteenth in sheer size and battle strength.

The dark gods continued to watch from the darkest depths of the warp, surrounded by masses of daemons and greater daemons that flew and skirted around them. They watched from their thrones as small armadas of Imperial and Alliance vessels converged on the contested star system, alone they wouldn't be enough to drive the Chaos armada back, but together they could annihilate them. This could not happen. They could not allow these separate fleets to combine. They may not be able to do much to the Alliance fleet who was traversing through hyperspace, at a speed which they just could not match. But the Imperial fleet was another matter. They were still travelling through the warp, their territory.

Slowly the five gods gathered a mass of warp energy around them and released it, sending the powerful shockwave speeding through the bottomless, endless sea of tainted warp energy and countless daemons. The swarms of daemons and greater daemons surrounding their masters were caught in the wave and exploded, their corrupting energy added.

------

**Imperial Battle-Group**

**Three hours from Sluis Van**

The first thing that Admiral Northland felt was the hairs on the back of his neck rise, then a cold sweat proliferated his body, instinctively Northland wiped the sweet away from his forehead before noticing the glass of ale on his desk shake slightly. The glass was only the beginning, fore suddenly the desk began to shake, then the wardrobes and weapon cases on the walls, the power blades and racks of guns within clanking.

It suddenly stopped. The admiral slowly stood up from his immaculately decorated chair and just as cautiously walked into the centre of his study chamber. That was when it hit. A shockwave struck the ship, sending anything not bolted down clattering onto the oak floor. Guns, swords, axes and halberds fell from their racks, his chair and desk were uplifted and slammed into the back bulkhead and after a moment he too was lifted and thrown, his entire form slamming into the same metal bulkhead.

He regained consciousness slowly, his hand reaching to the back of his head and feeling the slickness of blood. The feeling of blood was enough to sharpen his senses. He forced himself to his feet and grabbing his jacket, sash and cap ran out of his living chambers, down the central corridors and into the bridge of his battleship. Several consoles had exploded during his absence; their operators lying unmoving on the deck, thankfully all of the main systems, ordnance, fleet communications and helm were all still active.

"Status report" he shouted as he stalked onto his command deck and fell into the worn leather of his command chair before looking out too the main view ports of the bridge, which had been closed by twenty inch thick adimanium shutters.

"Massive energy outburst from the warp milord" his sensory officer reported from his station "Gellar fields holding steady at seventy percent, outer armour holding steady, no warp apparitions within ship"

"Open the shutters" Northland ordered, gaining several fearful looks from his bridge crew, even the armsmen standing at the exists with their bulky shotguns looked at each other with fear in their eyes, the admiral silenced them all with a murder ridden glare "Intensify Gellar fields with power from the secondary systems and…open…the…shutters"

Finally the shielding officer complied and intensified the daemon repelling fields surrounding the command ship. Then the helmsman hit several runes on a side console, causing the monolithic shutters covering the view ports to open with a shriek. Warp space stretched out before them, an endless sea of thousands of colours and shapes too numerous for a mortals eye to comprehend, many of the shapes were writhing and moving. But the long blade of energy which stretched from one side of the main view port to the other was what caught the admirals attention, it was getting bigger.

"What in the name of the god emperor is that" Northland growled before jumping out of his command throne and taking several shaky steps forward, it was a wave of warp energy, a big one "Helm, down seventy degrees, full throttle!"

"Down seventy degrees" the helmsman repeated as he pulled up on the large levers, bringing the gargantuan titan of the space ways into s steep dive. They weren't going to make it, the wave was approaching too fast, and the admiral knew it "Sensors what is that!!!"

"Targeting" the servitor manning the sensor station said emotionlessly, as he waited the admiral saw the massive sensor nodes on the vessels hull rotating into scanning position for the incoming wave of power. Suddenly the sensory console sparked and exploded, throwing the cyborg from his place in several pieces.

"By the emperor"

"Divert all nonessential power to the Gellar fields" Northland shouted to his shielding officer "Every scrape…navigator prepare for emergency exit!"

"But sir we don't know where we'll be when we return to real-" his helm retorted before being silenced by a glare.

"If we don't resurface the entire crusade will be destroyed by that thing!" Northland nearly screamed "Take us out of the warp now!!!"

Northland was suddenly thrown back against his command chair, his hands gripping the leather arms so tightly that his knuckles turned bone white. The ship went into a set of tremors as it went to exit the warp. Those tremors slowly began to increase in intensity until it felt like the battleship was a living thing going into convulsions. Slowly it started to rise up from the warps depths towards the surface, the other warships following his flagships lead.

Smaller waves of warp energy assaulted the Gellar fields, the strain causing them to flicker. A hundred kilometres to port the frigate _Ascension _exploded as a small wave of warp energy pierced its Gellar field. Another ship of the line, the heavy cruiser _Lady McIntyre _followed the escort vessel as another slice of warp energy pierced her Gellar field, cutting through the capital ships hull and tearing it into two separate pieces.

Finally the tip of the_ Infinitas Imperialus_ pierced the layer of energy separating warpspace and realspace, sending a massive set of ripples echoing across the sheet of energy separating the two dimensions. Over two thirds of the Imperial crusade escaped the shockwave of warp energy. The others weren't nearly as lucky.

The convulsions died down, only to be replaced by the deafening claxons of proximity alarms. Quickly the admiral starred out of the portside viewports, noticing a soft orange glow, a gas giant filled up the screens, and it was a little too close for comfort. Immediately he began barking orders to the bridge crew, ordering them to bank the flagship hard to starboard. The battleship swung around, its mighty engines at maximum thrust in an attempt to clear the monolithic planets orbit. Cruisers, battlecruisers and their escorts who were likewise dangerously close to the gas giant also began pulling away.

"Status on the fleet" Northland ordered sharply, waiting impatiently for the ship masters, the leaders of the numerous fleet squadrons which made up the crusade to report in.

"Masters reporting in" the communications officer stated from his station, his hands dancing across the keyboards and his eyes reflecting the light of the computer screens in the dim red light of the bridge "Over two thousand two hundred and eighty five ships of war have reported in…their spread across the system my lord, some are reporting major damage to their main systems…we're getting distress calls from fleet squadron leaders _Galactic Light_, _Imperial Might _and the _Lady Osiris_"

"Get them back into some type of formation" Northland shouted "Order the fleet to begin search and rescue manoeuvres, dispatch techpriests to all damaged ships and prepare to evacuate all vessels beyond repair. All ship masters and captains gather in their respective taskforces and meet us in deep space"

"Yes sir"

"Damage report on the _Infinitas Imperialus_"

"Gellar fields are down to thirty percent, void shields down to sixty. Main engine number three and side engines two, four, nine and eleven have shut down. Hull armour is still intact, no hull breaches reported"

"Can we still make the jump back into the warp?"

"Yes sir but-"

"I will give the crusade one hour to mobilise" Northland growled "Order the 90th, 108th, 212th and 301st escort squadrons in system to deal with the evacuation of all seriously damaged ships" he looked at each of the members of his bridge crew, making sure that they returned to their stations before falling into his command throne, cursing under his breath as he realised that the Alliance fleet was going to beat them to Sluis Van.

------

**Alliance Battle-Group**

**One hour from Sluis Van**

The combined fleet of the Galactic Alliance flew through the void of hyperspace. An armada whose ships numbered in the thousands, massive lumbering star dreadnoughts lead the armada, followed closely by star cruisers, star carriers and star destroyers of many different types and sizes, swarms of smaller escort craft were among them, each capital ship being protected by an escort squadron of at least three vessels and at most nine.

Forefront of the armada was four vessels in particular, three matt black _Eclipse-class _star dreadnoughts, dwarfing the smaller _Executers _by at least five kilometres. Their sleek hull covered in strategic positions by gun ports and main weapon batteries, including the long barrels of superlasers. Leading them was a smaller _Executer_, but a star dreadnought which was one of the most well known and legendary vessels in the galaxy, the vessel which the entire class was named after, Darth Vader's command ship, the _Executer_.

Within this old vessel a meeting was taking place, the meeting chamber was a large cylindrical hall at least thirty meters from one grey durasteel wall to the other. A round meeting table was positioned at its centre, its high backed chairs all taken by high ranking grand admirals, admirals and generals. Sitting on one of these chairs was Anakin Skywalker, fully dressed in the armour of his alter ego. His son Luke and several other high ranking Jedi including Obi-Wan and Mace Windu stood behind him.

The other chairs were taken by holographic projections of the other high ranking individuals in the fleet. Han Solo, who as a recently commissioned General sat on one of these chairs, although he was really sitting on the command throne of his own vessel, one of the new _Decisive-class _star cruisers, his wife Leia sat on the chair to his left. Others included the supreme commander Gilad Pallaeon as well as grand admirals Joseph Halos and Garm Bel Ablis, admiral Shiro of the Chiss as well as lord admiral Hunt and inquisitors Robyn Vallace and William Silvermaine.

At the moment the room was filled with shouting and cursing, it reminded Anakin of the old republic senate. Many wanted an explanation as to why Jedi who were supposed to have died well over fifty years ago were suddenly up and walking around. Even the inquisitors who were no strangers to such phenomenon (Daemons and all that) were demanding answers.

With a sigh of annoyance Anakin slammed his gauntleted right fist into the table, the resulting clash loud enough to make all present jump in surprise. He slowly stood up from his chair, his hands pressed on the cool surface and his eyes starring solemnly at each man and woman in turn.

"We do not know how we got here" Anakin bellowed angrily "And I quite frankly don't give a flying Bantha! I do know why we are here and that is to rid the galaxy of these traitors and tainted beings that represent the forces of Chaos. You can all debate and judge us after this is over but for right now we have a war to win!!!"

"And how do you suppose we break the back of this monolithic force" a Bothan general whose name Anakin did not know spoke up heatedly "The defence forces will be on the edge of defeat by then, if they are not already!"

"The _Planet Killer_" Luke spoke up, drawing the attention of all in the room "It is more than just a flagship, it is a symbol of they're Warmaster, it gives them courage and belief that they're dark god will not fail them…destroy that, or better yet capture it and the rest of their armada will scatter and flee"

"And how do we destroy one of the biggest vessels in two galaxies" lord inquisitor Silvermaine retorted "We have tried to destroy that monster for nearly ten thousand years. It has annihilated every fleet arrayed against it whether Alliance or Imperial, by the golden throne not even a Necron tombship can stand against it"

"You never had three star dreadnoughts armed with planet destroying super weapons" Anakin pointed out.

"That vessel didn't survive for so long just because of conventional armaments and mass" Hunt snapped "It's Armageddon gun has been known to decimate entire fleets, the Alliance saw it at work during Bakura"

"Nothing has been known to survive an attack by a superlaser" Halos growled "Check the records lord admiral, every target that has utilised a superlaser has been completely destroyed. Heck it has destroyed worlds, what's a 50km long warship?"

"The difference grand admiral is that this vessel was built in the warp" Hunt replied dryly "And to date it is impregnable and undefeated in ship to ship combat"

------

**Sluis Van**

**Orbit**

The planetary shields were finally buckling to the _Planet Killers _steady barrage, its rippling blue surface flickering and sparking as the lance batteries and plasma cannons of the super battleship continued to rain fire and death upon it. From his command throne Abaddon grinned as the shield which had kept his force from landing a full scale invasion finally succumbed and died.

Several lance beams shattered through the disintegrating force field and hit the rocky surface with the power to level entire cities. Huge explosions racked the surface, kicking up dust clouds which were slowly forming into the shapes of giant mushrooms, completely annihilating everything at their impact zones and sending out shockwaves of fire and death in all directions, killing everything within a few dozen kilometres.

The planets last major defence gone the Despoiler gave the signal and clusters of troop transports 700m long began making runs for the surface, punching through the atmosphere in bright displays of fire. Surviving ground defences opened up on the transports only to be silenced by a monumental barrage from the armada's gun batteries. Within minutes the last few surface turbolaser batteries had been destroyed.

"I want all resistance squashed" Abaddon bellowed "I want every enemy soldier dead and put on display. I want every warship turned into lifeless husks and burning debris. I want this planet cleansed of xeno, alien lover and corpse emperor filth for the glory of Chaos, for the glory of the dark gods!!!"

He then looked towards the distance lasfire and blooms which symbolised the last few pockets of coalition resistance. A few thousand warships who had clustered around the planets shipyards and were even now defending it too the last, he grinned and turning to the helmsmen ordered them to change his flagships course. It was time to finish the last space hindrance once and for all.

------

"Grand admiral the _Planet Killer _has changed course"

"What" Wedge said in disbelief before hitting a few runes on his command throne bringing up holograph screens of the Chaos flagships location. It was turning, bringing its massive guns to bear, the most noticeable one being the long barrelled Armageddon gun "Evasive action!!!"

------

"Order all ships to take evasive measures immediately" Visnik shouted from his command throne "Get away from the shipyards now. That's got to be their target!!!"

The bridge crew carried out the Warmaster's orders with professional speed and precision, the helmsman pulling on the monolithic steering levers, bringing the battleship into a steep climb away from the doomed shipyards, the fleets of Hapan, Imperial and Alliance vessels scattering as it did. The Warmaster continued to watch the massive warp spawned monstrosity as its Armageddon gun began to glow.

Grand Admiral Antilles star cruiser was performing a steep banking to port, a formation of Hapan battle-dragons and Alliance star destroyers following suit. The Hapan flagship, the _Song of War _was quickly banking to port to try and catch up with the grand admiral. All across the shipyards warships and escorts were breaking away. Many wouldn't be able to get away in time. Little did the Coalition know that the _Planet Killers _target wasn't the shipyards at all.

The Armageddon gun fired its fleet destroying, planet annihilating beam of energy, the entire barrel discharging violently from the incredible force utilised to fire. The beam soared through space, destroying several fleet squadrons of Chaos ships who were unlucky enough to get in the way.

Its target wasn't the shipyards.

Its target was the _Tempestus Solaria _which vanished as the planet destroying beam flew through it. Warmaster Visnik didn't even have time to register what had happened before he and his entire crew were compassed in fire. The battleship exploded, as did the squadrons of capital ships and escorts that tried to flee with her. Their deaths catalogued as a mass of flaming blossoms in the distance. The beam continued on as if unhindered by the several dozen ships it had just destroyed and passed by the shipyards, just a graze, but enough to destroy several dry and builder docks.

On the bridge of the _Crimson Lady _Frostman fell into his command throne, his eyes refusing to leave the holo-screens which were showing the aftermath. The ships caught in the Armageddon guns path were nothing more than unrecognisable clumps of debris. Secondary explosions racked the shipyards as wreckage from destroyed docks floated and collided with other docks and space stations. All while the _Planet Killer _made a steady approach towards them. On the _Song of War _the Queen Mother of the Hapan Consortium looked out at the destruction, her usually stone like features broken in sadness and disbelief.

------

As the explosions of the Armageddon guns shot died away a Hapan Battle-dragon dived like a bird towards the massive girth of an approaching light cruiser, its form shaped like two discs welded together with a box of engine nacelles at its back, turbolaser batteries were strategically placed along the edges of the discs, which rotated as one of the guns opened up, allowing another to be moved into position. Small at only 600 meters long the Hapan vessels were fast and packed a great deal of firepower for their size.

Diving with the battle-dragon was a small squad of three _Nova-class _battlecruisers. Shaped like long necked birds in full flight they were smaller at 400 meters in length but like their larger brethren packed a surprising punch. The capital ship and her pickets pulled up sharply as they came within a hundred meters of the charred and scarred hull, their turbolaser and laser cannons firing streams of energy at near point blanc range. The combined fire shattered its void shields and struck its hull, melting away the heavy armour and opening up several decks. As the squadron pulled away the limping cruiser recovered, twisting to its port and bringing its monumental guns to bear. It fired, lancing through the slender hull of one of the battlecruisers, tearing it to three pieces, flying in different directions.

The Chaotic vessels may have been slow and cumbersome but their heavy armour and powerful weapons more than made up for it. The Hapans were hardy fighters, their vessels may be swift and surprising but they were taking heavy losses. The Queen Mother knew it well, she watched from the throne of her own personal warships as it led a force of hastily regrouped battle-dragons and star destroyers to the fray. She had witnessed the horrific effects of the Armageddon gun and even though her face was still set in stone it had paled. She had felt the deaths of millions through the force, both on the ground and just recently like a spear in the gut with the discharge of the Armageddon gun. She felt sick and nauseas.

Tenel Ka continued to watch the battle, her eyes not leaving the mass of black shadows which represented the Chaos armada. For every vessel destroyed whether it be frigate, destroyer, cruiser, battlecruiser or even battleship another five would come from the blackness to take their place on the line. In orbit across from her scattered allied positions she saw dozens of charred and battle scarred troop transports ranging from small haulers at 200 meters to 700 meter long giants carrying entire regiments of traitors to the front. Much smaller bullet shaped assault pods swarmed past them, each one carrying small squads of Chaos Space Marines, Predator tanks and Dreadnoughts to the lands below. She could only imagine the hell that the Coalition armies on the ground were being put through.

------

On the ground the forces of Chaos were pushing their way through the capital city. Tank brigades and corps of stolen or salvaged ex-alliance battle walkers grinded their way through the defences of the Coalition. Hordes of traitors and mutants crowded the city streets, throwing themselves at barriers lined with Imperial Guard and Alliance soldiers, in many cases climbing over mounds of their own dead to reach the line.

In the northern section of the city, at the steps of an ancient museum a squad of Ultramarines stood their ground against an incoming horde, firing continuously with bolters. A swath of empty magazine clips and expended bolter shells littering the steps at their feet. Fifty meters away stood a war-band of over a hundred cultists, led by the intimidating form of one of their fallen brethren. The ground between the two forces littered with the bodies of fifty cultists and two crumpled forms of their fallen brothers.

Three blocks away a host of regrouping Imperial Guard from a decimated regiment and three squads of crack stormtroopers took cover from an approaching air strike from Chaos airfighters. Running and diving into craters and behind wrecked vehicles, a few fired sporadically at the incoming aircraft but it was futile. They dropped their bombs, creating a blanket of fire below and killing all of the opposing forces. A single guardsman clambered out from his trench, disoriented. He was shot in the face from a Chaos sniper.

A trio of Lemon Russ tanks took up positions at a crossroad, aiming and firing their cannons at approaching forces when they were able. A basilisk artillery tank was positioned behind them, constantly rotating and firing one of its highly explosive shells into the oncoming ranks. Two platoons of Imperial Guard took up positions around them, armed with lasguns, plasma guns, las-cannons and grenade launchers.

Deep behind the Chaos advance a line of five predator tanks filed down one of the debris ridden main roads. Squads of Traitor Guard marching at their sides as they made their way to the front, little did they know that squads of Imperial Kasrkins, ARC troopers and Remnant shock troopers waited for them within the buildings. When they were in sight the ambush was sprung and the front predator's front exploded as a trio of anti-tank missiles collided with it. Soldiers who were too close were thrown aside, riddled with shrapnel.

Above the city the skies were covered with trails of slick black smoke as Coalition X-wings, A-wings, Tie fighters and Thunderbolts engaged Switdeaths, Doomfires and a swarm of atmospheric craft in an immense aerial dogfight for supremacy over the skies. Mixed in with the skirmishes were the large silhouettes of recently arrived corvettes and frigates, adding their considerable firepower to try and tip the scales. With the failing of the planetary shields occasional streaks of turbolaser and lance fire burned away the clouds and levelled city blocks, killing hundreds of Coalition and Chaos warriors in a single moment.

At the moment the battle could go either way, where one side was gaining ground in one area they were losing it in another and with the steady reinforcements Abaddon was sending in with the loss of the planetary shields it didn't look good for the Coalition. They're only hope lay in the reinforcements who were even now flying through the cosmos as fast as they possibly could.

------

The burning carcase cracked in two like an egg as the _Planet Killer _brought her mighty lance batteries upon it. Within a handful of seconds the once proud _Executer _star dreadnought _Nightshade _had been turned into a burning lump of scrape metal. Her escort star destroyers and cruisers tried to initiate a tactical withdrawal but were quickly obliterated by the thousands of armaments the warp borne battleship possessed.

From his skull throne Abaddon laughed with barely contained glee, the battle was going well for them. The loss of the corpse emperor's flagship had demoralised the Imperial forces leaving the Galactic Alliance to temporarily fend for them selves. Their star dreadnoughts were indeed powerful craft, an equal for most battleships but against the _Planet Killer _they fell like all the others.

By now the Chaos armada had properly amassed to deal with the last of the Coalition fleet, squadrons of cruisers lumbered into the fight, surrounded by escort clusters of frigates and destroyers. They continued to pound the Coalition again and again. More and more of the Alliances sleek vessels and the Imperiums mighty warships succumbed to the unstoppable advance, the endless sea of Chaos warships.

But something was wrong, he could feel it, something was coming.

"Warmaster" one of the serfs called in the usual deadpan voice "Incoming ships"

"Identify"

Several old view screens, suspended by black chains lowered into position around his throne. They flickered to life, the ten meter wide and five meter high screens showing static before clearing, showing an impressive view of open space. A moment passed. Hundreds, maybe thousands of sleek ships of war flashed into existence, a few dozen at first but quickly more flashes symbolised the arrival of yet more ships. Finally four large vessels flashed into existence at the front of the recently arrived armada. One was an _Executer-class _star dreadnought. But the others were vessels which surpassed even its size, at least 17 kilometres long and coloured a matt black. The Warmaster did not know what they were but he knew they were trouble.

The three matt black behemoths came to life in plasma green light, power level sensors across the bridge began to spike as readings of the warships were taken. Long lances of green fire streaked across the stars towards his fleet. There was no time to take evasive action. The lances struck three targets, two battleships and the _Planet Killer _herself. The battleships were pierced from one end of their heavily armoured hulls to the other, sparked and then vanished in a blanket of atomising fire. Then the third lance hit its target and the entire superstructure of his flagship began to shake uncontrollably.

------

At the very edge of the star system, just outside of sensor range a fleet of sleek warships hovered in the darkness, waiting too see if they would be needed in the raging battle for control of the galaxy.

"The Mon'Kiegh appear to be handling the situation"

"In their usual barbaric way yes"

"Perhaps we were not needed in this monumental bloodbath after"

"The battle is not over yet"

"We will see"

**Well how was that? Hope ya all enjoyed that little bloodbath. Next chapter all the factions in this war come in, surprise nations arrive and a few last monumental characters from both galaxies return to the maelstrom, guess who…come on guess**


	59. Battle of Sluis Van: War Between Gods

_**Chapter 58**_

_**Battle of Sluis Van**_

_**War Between Gods**_

The very second the Alliance battle-group exited hyperspace an order went out to the three _Eclipse _star dreadnoughts, ordering them to fire their superlaser cannons upon the three largest warships in the Chaos formations. The three vessels opened fire. Two aimed for the battleships while the other, the _Eclipse Prime _aimed for the massive bulk of the _Planet Killer_. All hit their target. The three targeted warships vanished in a beam of green plasma, the lances piercing straight through the heavy armour. The entire battle-group erupted in cheers and yells of victory as the beams began to subside. 

On the bridge of the flagship officers, aides, controllers and Jedi alike cheered in joy. All except for Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Yoda and Luke Skywalker cheered. Those four Jedi simply continued to watch the Chaos armada for any change. It came a moment later, a thick beam of crimson light shot out of the smoke and fire. The beam hit the _Eclipse Two _head on, impacting on its shields for a split second before shattering them and piercing its armoured black hull from nose to engine nacelles. The light of the beam could be seen through the viewports, cracks began to form on the matte black armour, slowly spreading with the power of the beam and finally the ship exploded.

The cheering had died down completely. Everyone only looked out the viewports in shock of what they had just witnessed. An _Eclipse_, one of the most deadly warships in the history of the galaxy had been annihilated in a single shot. In the distance a massive bulk pierced through the smog, the _Planet Killer_, badly scarred by the firepower arrayed against it. A single large hole pierced straight through its side.

"By the force" Mace muttered "That's just impossible!"

"Order the fleet to spread out" Anakin ordered sharply, causing the suddenly fatigued looking crew back to their stations "Begin advance. Let the _Eclipses _deal with the _Planet Killer_. All others are to regroup with the remnants of the defence fleet and engage"

The fleet began to spread out over a three thousand kilometre area of space, long range weapon systems opening fire on the advancing swarm of Chaos warships. Many of them were demoralised by the loss of two of their battleships, allowing the fleet to make a steady advance. They came within range and opened up with main turbolaser batteries. Squadrons of starfighters launched from hangers of any vessel able to carry them, swarming to meet the approaching Ssi-Ruuvi drones and Chaos starfighters.

Anakin's eyes refused to leave the _Planet Killer_, he felt a massive shadow of corrupt energy resonate from its hull, tendrils of dark whispers and false promises writhing around her, promising power, more power….join us and gain all the power you could dream off. He gathered the force around him and sent a response to the shadow.

Abaddon growled as he unsteadily got back to his feet, blood streaming down a cut right above his left brow, he drew Drach'nyan from its sheath and plunged its blade into the black-stone floor, using it as a crutch to help him too his feet. He watched the decks below, many of the consoles were burning and sparking, some had exploded throwing the serfs and psychics manning them sprawling across the floor. 

"Status" he shouted angrily, sending the astropaths on his deck back too work.

"Several high powered beams have struck us" one muttered in response "Heavy damage. Decks fifteen to fifty all open too space, hull armour breached. Battleships _Dread Lord _and _Eternal Damnation _have been completely destroyed. We returned fire with the Armageddon gun and have destroyed one of the opposing capital ships"

"Recharge the Armageddon gun" Ezekiel Abaddon ordered sharply "Arm all ordnance for long range fire. Gather all remaining battleships and battlecruisers for a full assault on that fleet. Continue pushing until none remain"

"Ai my lord"

The Despoiler sheathed Drach'nyan and sat back in his skull throne, ignoring the blood flowing down his face, entrusting his heavily modified immune system to repair the damage. Sure enough a few minutes later the wound above his eye closed up, leaving just the thinnest line of a scar, eventually even that would disappear. He felt the tug to his mind suddenly. A powerful psychic mind was trying to gain his attention. All messages left a trail and the Warmaster curtly used his own considerable psychic power to find its source. The source was on the lead star dreadnought of the Alliance battle-group.

Grinning he sent a strong wave of warp energy to the bearer, the death of this psychic should serve as an ample warning to any others. He was surprised to find that the opposing mind did not only block his attack but sent it back at him, with a growl of surprise the Warmaster raised his mind shields as far as they could possibly go. The wave of redirected energy struck his shields with such power that he had to concentrate more. Perspiration suddenly appeared on his bald face, mixing in with the drying blood.

"My lord" a rasping voice asked, the Warmaster turned his head to see the towering forms of his four lieutenants. They each came from one of the legions who worshipped a single Chaos god. Four massive men decked in terminator armour, their helms shielding their facial features. It was the World Eater lieutenant who spoke "We are at your command"

His grin returning to his face the despoiler rose from his skull throne, drew Drach'nyan and pointed it towards the opposing fleet "Begin the advance"

The two fleets met and their union was christened by masses of lance and turbolaser fire. Capital-ships from as small as destroyers to as large as star dreadnoughts and battleships duelled, hammering each other at long, medium and close range with flurries of weapons fire. Starfighters duelled around them in large scale skirmishes and dogfights.

The _Planet Killer _fired its Armageddon gun again, striking the Star Dreadnought _Reaper_, destroying her and her entire escort contingent of six star destroyers and two star cruisers. The two _Eclipse _star dreadnoughts _Eclipse Prime _and _Eclipse One _retaliated with their superlasers, atomising two battlecruisers in quick succession.

Anakin watched the entire battle from the bridge of the _Executer _who was even now mercilessly pounding a _Despoiler-class _battleship with her impressive turbolaser banks. The black silhouette of the obsolete warship was even now lighting up with explosions against first the void shields and then the hull. The chosen one remained on his feet even as a retaliatory burst of lance fire from their opponent smashed into the deflector shields, causing the entire vessel to rock violently.

"Admiral" Anakin asked, drawing the attention of his fleet officer "Are the strike teams ready?"

"All shock squads are fully prepped and waiting for the order sir" Piett replied, grabbing onto the arms of the command chair tightly as the star dreadnought shook from return fire. Anakin growled at the far away silhouette of the _Planet Killer_, surrounded by obsolete battleships and battlecruisers.

"Its still too heavily defended for us to even hope too strike" he growled "Where are the defence forces?" instead of answering Piett brought up several holo-screens, showing the battered Imperial and Alliance fleet regrouping and striking the enemy from the rear.

They were still outnumbered by three too one, Anakin realised as another volley of lance fire struck the shields of his command ship, causing them too flicker. One of the escort star destroyers, _Firetide _vanished in a bloom of fire as her own deflectors collapsed. They still needed a miracle.

"Sir we have a mass of new fleet signatures arriving" the sensory officer reported from his station "It's the Crusade sir, the crusade has arrived!" 

_Thank the Force!_

"Admiral you may assume command of the _Executer_" he said before turning and stalking from the command deck to the pod launch chambers "It's time to meet the master of this armada, and send him back to the warp"

The Crusade fleet exited the warp like a swarm of angry hornets, the only battleship in the just arriving fleet _Infinitas Imperialis _and her defence squadron of battlecruisers and heavy cruisers immediately opened up with long range lance batteries, annihilating several dozen escort vessels and a half dozen capital ships. The reply was quick and without mercy, the Armageddon gun fired again, the beam ripping through a section of the fleet annihilating three cruisers and nine escort ships.

In response the Crusade rallied and speared into the central Chaos ranks, ramming escorts and assaulting capital ships at point blanc range with their weapons. Their target was not the capital ships but the flagship of the armada. The only problem was the six battleships and twelve battlecruisers surrounding the planet destroying capital ship. Once within range they fired upon the rampaging Imperial ships, destroying and maiming dozens in their opening salvoes. The Imperials counterattacked with their own volleys, the combined barrage of a few thousand ships annihilated two battlecruisers and seriously wounding the battleship _Warp Spawn_. 

By now all of the remaining vessels of the Coalition had been rallied around a small command squadron made up off the capital ships holding the military leaders of the Coalition and joined the Imperial forces in their advance. The _Executer _and the battleship _Crying Saint _led a small flotilla of star dreadnoughts and battleships, surrounded by an armada of over seven thousand warships from two galaxies rammed into the equally numbered armada of Chaos warships. The tables had evened, now it was only a matter of strategy and luck.

The _Planet Killer _fired again, destroying the _Emperor-class _battleship _Lady Retribution_ and several escorts, massive chunks of debris flew in all directions, impacting against the star defender _Insurgent _and seriously damaging the titanic battle-carriers starboard side. The two _Eclipses _fired a short time later, destroying the _Planet Killers _two guard battleships, the _Reign of Blood _and the _Daemon's Scythe_.

The _Planet Killer _was now completely open too the Coalition armada, Space Marine strike vessels swarmed through the gap and began executing sharp turns when they came within a hundred kilometres of the giant. Bringing their side mounted launch tubes too bear. They fired, the barrage taking the form of lines of silent flashes. But these tubes did not hold missiles or torpedoes but insertion pods loaded with squads of Space Marines. The pods dived towards the behemoth, dodging the thick anti-air fire of point defence batteries before piercing the void shields and digging into the heavily armoured hull.

The pods sliced through the armour to the outer corridors of the flagship and released their squads of Space Marines, hundreds of them from a dozen different chapters charged from their pods. The scene that greeted them was one from a nightmare, the very interior of the Chaotic vessel seemed to be alive, the corridors were made of a pulsing red tissue, like a mass of veins and arteries leading too the vessels vital areas. Daemons slid from the walls in their hundreds, sensing an intrusion to their domain. They were met with hails of bolter fire from the insurgent Space Marines. The highly explosive shells tore through the air, embedding themselves into the pulsing walls and muscular bodies of daemon and mortal alike. The _Planet Killer _herself seemed to scream in pain and anger as the shells struck the corridors living surface. 

More insertion pods impacted against the armour, burrowed their way into the titanic monster and releasing their contents of Kasrkins, Battle sisters, veteran Imperial Guardsmen, Remnant Stormtroopers, Alliance Marines, Chiss Shock-troopers, Psykers, battle Priests, Commissars, Jedi, Hapan Marines, ARC troopers and battle droids swarmed into the outer corridors. All meeting surprised Daemons and Traitors, all tearing them apart with flurries of blaster, las, bolter and slug fire.

Anakin walked out of his insertion pod, fully dressed in his white armour and immediately cut down a daemon approaching him with his ice blue bladed lightsabre. He then reached too his belt and pulled another lightsabre hilt, his Sith lightsabre, he ignited it and fell into a battle-stance, the two lightsabres shinning in the darkness. Other lightsabres ignited behind him, their wielders holding them in front of their faces, showing their identities, Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan Kenobi. With a roar he led the charge into the bowls of the monster, hunting for the daemon he was determined to slay. 

At the other side of the monstrous killer Luke Skywalker strolled out of his insertion pod, Jedi masters Kip Durron, Corran Horn, Kyle Kattarn and Saba Sabatyne directly behind him. They ignited their lightsabres, illuminating the darkness enough to show several dozen snarling daemons. They dived into the enemies ranks, severing limbs and hacking bodies. They were soon joined by a group of five Dark Troopers, the battle-droids hefting their blast cannons and ripping daemons to shreds in a flurry of blaster fire.

Abaddon sensed the energy of his adversary from his skull throne. It had been so long since he had the privilege of fighting a worthy opponent, he sensed other powerful entities all over his ship. Psykers, Librarians, Chaplains, Jedi. He felt his warrior's blood boil.

"Let the Jedi pass" he ordered "We'll deal with them. As for the rest, completely annihilate all borders!"

Flotillas of Crusade and Alliance vessels stormed through the recently opened gaps in the Chaos line, soaring towards the planet which meant victory or defeat for either side. Squadrons of Chaos frigates and destroyers gave chase, their lance batteries firing streams of energy at the fleeting vessels. An old Corellian Blockade Runner took a lance beam to its spine, severing huge chunks of hull into space. One of the rearguard Imperial Light Cruisers vanished in a bloom of fire as its engines were hit and her warp core detonated.

The Chaos vessels didn't let up until several _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers opened fire on them from a range too great for their lance batteries. The flotillas continued on until they came to the upper atmosphere of Sluis Van, small clusters of atmospheric drop pods were launched from side mounted launchers. The pods broke orbit and hit the ground, leaving craters in their wake and within a few moments squads of Space Marines, Dark Troopers and YVH battle-droids joined the battle on the ground.

In space the small flotillas of Coalition vessels escaped orbit and ran back too their lines, only too be replaced by much bigger carriers. Five ancient _Mediator-class _battlecruisers, relics of the Old Republic-era, completely refitted into troop transports hovered past the now degenerating skirmishes. Squadrons of Chaos fighters swarmed around them, dropping bombs and launching missiles in an attempt to destroy one of these giants who were returning fire with hundreds of turbolaser batteries and laser cannons.

They got within range, large belly doors opened, releasing small taskforces of troop transports carrying men, equipment and vehicles too the besieged planet below. The Coalition was not going to give up Sluis Van without a fight. Farseer Stormwind watched the degenerating brawl from the viewing chamber of her own personal battlecruiser, the _Void-Striker _battleship _Wraith Queen_. 

_My lady when will we be given the order too engage? _High Admiral Eldran Sylvanne inquired impatiently.

_Not yet High Admiral, not yet _she replied simply, _something doesn't feel right_

She sat in the centre of the chamber, her legs crossed and her hands positioned in meditation. Small stones of wraithbone shot out from miniscule holes in the otherwise perfect walls, coming into orbit around her armoured form, they glistened and pulsed with a mass of colour. Images immediately flooded her mind. A tiny scratch in the fabric of space, several million kilometres above the raging battle, her spirit flew through this crack. A fleet of vessels stood in the warp, twisted and black. One stood out, a massive fortress of power, beautiful and terrible at the same time.

She instantly tried too withdraw her mind only too have a force stronger than she could possibly comprehend drag her back. A humanoid shadow appeared behind the fleet, dwarfing it with its great size, eyes of a sickly yellow appeared in the darkness and two dragon like wings uncoiled themselves from around its slender body and stretched out, blocking the shinning wisps of warp cloud and gas. She immediately averted her gaze and tried to creep away only too have a voice crackle through her mind, shattering her defences as if they were paper.

_Run little Eldar, run. You are only delaying the inevitable_

_Shingai _she muttered in terror, she tried to turn only too find him floating before her, his sickly yellow orbs gazing into her dark red ones. Leda Stormwind screamed in terror. A hand slapped her across the face and she awakened. She shot up too see Exarch Lasaria of the Howling Banshees kneeling beside her, her silver eyes starring at her worriedly.

"My lady"

"Lasaria a Blackstone Fortress is hiding in the warp" the Farseer said frantically, grabbing the Banshee Exarchs armoured collar and pulling her close. Even with every ounce of strength she could muster she could still hear her voice quivering in terror at what her vision had shown her "We must reposition the fleet! Intercept it before it tears the Coalition apart!"

"We may have too wait a little while longer before doing that" Lasaria replied "The Seers just received a communication from Ulthwe"

"Ulthwe" the Farseer asked "What could they possibly want?"

"They have heard our plight and have sent a taskforce of Cruisers through a wormhole. They should be here within the hour"

Thin crackling strands of force lightning encompassed the last Chaos Space marine and threw him against the massive double doors, forcing them open with his weight. Anakin and his team of elite Jedi Masters did not break their stride as they entered the cavernous bridge of the _Planet Killer_, the domain of Abaddon the Despoiler. The Warmaster himself was standing at the far end of the bridge, looking out of the massive viewports at the battle raging around them. It reminded Anakin of the _Invisible Hand_, where he saved Palpatine and killed Dooku.

The Warmaster turned as the group entered the centre of the eerily empty command deck, he was as intimidating and huge as Anakin had imagined. At least three meters in height, dressed in impressive black armour. His face was bald, pale and scarred. A sword was sheathed too his side, the blade feeling alive in some grotesque way. This was Ezekiel Abaddon, the Warmaster of Chaos, the Despoiler, and Chosen of the Dark Gods.

"I have been waiting for you" Abaddon hissed "Since we entered this galaxy I have felt your presence, a being whose power rivals my own"

"It's over Abaddon" Anakin said firmly "Turn your fleet around and remove yourself from this galaxy!"

"I like this galaxy" the Warmaster replied pompously "I think I'll stay. I think I'll keep it"

"This ends here Abaddon" Mace Windu said, his voice dead serious as he spoke. A violet lightsabre snapped to existence, followed by the blades of the other masters, even Anakin ignited his two ice blue and crimson red lightsabres at the words of the former second in command of the old order.

"Ah Master Windu, Korun master and the best user of the Vaapad art" Abaddon muttered "Your reputation as a warrior is exquisite…but I have no interest in fighting you or these other worms you have brought with you. My only interest is this Lord Vader who stands beside you"

The Warmaster snapped his fingers and four foreboding shapes fell from the rafters overhead, drawing weapons with shrieks of grinding metal and dark laughter. The four lieutenants of Abaddon landed in the midst of the Jedi group and began swinging their power swords indiscriminately. The Jedi were ready for them however and quickly began executing back flips and corkscrews, narrowly missing the blades of the Despoilers personal guard.

"Now that all other annoyances have been dealt with we can begin" Abaddon said smugly, drawing Drach'nyan and holding him casually with his right hand as he stalked towards Anakin Skywalker. The chosen one fell into a Soresu stance, his lightsabre blades poised and ready. It was Abaddon who swung first.

Deep within the bowels of the _Planet Killer _there was nothing but long corridors, their walls alive and pulsing from the thousands of years of exposure to the warp, the dim glow orbs had fizzled out long ago, never too be replaced. Daemons and Chaos Specialists patrolled the corridors and grand chambers, weapons from tooth and claw too bolters and power weapons poised. A

Among these Daemons were the special creations of the dark gods themselves. Blood daemons patrolled the corridors, their masculine bodies of fur and mane coloured red, long horns sprouted from their foreheads and small red slits glowed in the darkness. Plague daemons whose bodies were grievously wounded wandered along the labyrinth like the living dead, tainted blood seeping from badly diseased wounds and dangling intestines. Scantily clad Daemonettes whose bodies were sinewy and exquisitely beautiful danced along the halls, their skin pink and their eyes black as the abyss they guarded. Soulless cases of power armour were among them, representing the monsters that were once Space Marine but their bodies rotted away many millennia ago. And finally the recently finished monsters of the fear god, long sinewy creatures, their limbs like thin cable, their skin dark and rippling, their eyes as dark as night and scythe like talons extended from their forearms and feet.

They were all moving with a purpose, intruders had invaded their home, they were laying waist too what they had guarded for thousands of years and they would pay for this desecration with their lives. A hail of bolter fire ripped through a wave of three Daemons, tearing their masculine bodies apart in a storm of suppression fire. Waves of warp energy streamed along the corridors, incinerating daemons and Chaos space marines by the dozen. Still more came. They came from the ceiling, they seeped through the walls, they phased through the decking and floors, they hobbled down the corridors like armies of un-dead.

Among the carnage Librarian Nigel Barsark of the Crimson Guard Space Marines stood in the centre of the corridor like a guardian of old, his arms folded and his eyes sparking green with warp energy. Bolts of arc lightning and warp fire surrounded his body like a hue, tainting his crimson and silver armour. Daemons approached and were just as quickly dispatched by a wave of power, a squad of Space Marines surrounded him, pouring bolter fire into the approaching hordes, sending more back too the hell they came from.

"The emperor is with us brothers" he yelled, aiming a blast of arc lightning at a Daemonette and ripping her sinewy body too ribbons "Do not falter, do not retreat, never surrender. There may come a time when your strength will fail, but by the emperor it will not be this day! It will not be this day!!"

A barrage if crimson blaster bolts assaulted the daemons from an opposing corridor, ripping several of them apart in an impressive display of power and precision. A moment past before the perpetrator made himself known. A pair of YVH battle-droids strolled down the corridor, wrist mounted blast cannons firing streams of crimson bolts into the daemon hordes, a squad of Remnant Stormtroopers kept pace, ducking, diving and firing as they went. At the lead of this force was a young girl with shoulder length blonde hair and piercing green eyes, a lightsabre of emerald green held firmly in her hands as she lead the squad, hacking off the limbs and torso of any daemon who came close too her.

"Ah my lady Jedi" Barsark called gleefully "Nice of you too join us!"

"It's Tahiri Librarian" the Jedi replied as she force jumped beside him and sent several daemons flying with a well timed force push "Tahiri Veila"

"Nigel Barsark" he replied, grabbing the young girl and spinning with her like they were in a ball room performing a dance, smashing a daemons face with his power fist as he went. The young Jedi lashed out with her left leg as they spun, sending another daemon spinning in midair.

"I sense something" the young Jedi mumbled "A presence so familiar"

"It is the warp playing tricks on you milady" the Librarian replied as he drew a power sword from his waist and ran it through a blood daemon. He looked around too see the Jedi dive against an iron set of double doors an plunge her blade into it "What in the name of the emperor are you doing!!"

"I can feel it"

"What!?"

"Pain, torment, and suffering" she went on "There are captives beyond this chamber Librarian, I can feel them. Just give me some cover!"

"It could be a trap milady" the Librarian replied "There could be a horde of daemons beyond that door, waiting in ambush!"

"More meat for us too grind" she said heatedly, the area on the doors where her lightsabre had run into were beginning to burn red and disintegrate "If not then we retreat in here and form a bottleneck!"

She then sent a powerful blast of force energy into the weakened crack, causing the doors locks too snap and fall open, revealing a dark chamber whose only light came from the Jedi girl's lightsabre. Immediately the Space Marines, stormtroopers and YVH droids fell back through the doors, firing continuously as they went. The floor was covered with the casings of expended rounds and empty power cells as they finally all made it through. The daemons followed and were immediately mowed down by the blaster and bolter fire.

"Force preserve me" Tahiri muttered with a gasp. Barsark turned and immediately felt sick. They had entered a torture chamber. The walls were covered by corpses, chained and bloodied from hours, maybe even days of unholy agony. Some of the poor souls were still alive, hollow eyes weakly looking up at the newcomers, devoid of life or hope. Many had already been lost too the warp, their bodies hanging limp and drool pooling from their mouths.

"By the force" the Librarian heard the girl again, this time with a tone of disbelief and fear in her voice, she was starring at a few of the prisoners "Numa" she asked, running up and cupping the face of a bloodied Twi'lek in her hands "Numa Rar, please talk too me, can you hear me?"

"T-t…t…Tahiri" the alien replied, her face creasing with effort too even remember the girl's name.

"It's me Numa" she replied "I'm going too cut these chains, hang on" with a blur of motion from her lightsabre the chains were severed and the Twi'lek fell limply into the blonde Jedi's waiting arms.

"My lady step away" one of the Space Marines shouted as he released an empty clip from his bolter and slammed in a fresh one "She has been contaminated by the warp, she could be possessed, a daemon trying too trick you!"

"T…Tahiri" Numa muttered, lifting her right had and pointing too another chained body a few meters away from them. Tahiri looked up and felt tears brim her eyes, chained against the wall was a young human boy of roughly eighteen with short brown hair, eyes which she remembered as once being a piercing ice blue, full of resolve and life were now hollow and lifeless.

"Anakin" Tahiri muttered silently "Anakin Solo"

Without another word Tahiri cut the resurrected Jedi's chains, allowing him too fall unconscious into her arms, he slowly opened them and starred into her emerald orbs, he managed a slight smile which made her heart soar. It was then that the daemons broke through the entrance and overran the soldiers defending it. The stormtroopers guarding the doors were torn to shreds in a mass of severed limbs and spilt blood.

A blood daemon swung at Tahiri, cutting deep into her shoulder, with a scream of pain she fell to the ground, clutching her limp arm and watching in shock as blood streamed down her shoulder, covering her torn arm and ripped clothing in crimson. She closed her eyes as the daemon cut down with his axe, waiting for the inevitable. 

A shrill cry of rage made Tahiri open her eyes too see the daemon sliced in half, red light escaping from the horizontal slash wound across its chest. Fire streamed through the chamber, incinerating every daemonic entity within. When the flames finally abated all that was left were those made of flesh and steel. 

Anakin stood, an unconscious Tahiri held in his arms and eyes shinning red with daemonic warp energy. He set the unconscious Tahiri against a wall and continued to glide out of the torture chamber. He stopped in the hallway, raised his left hand and released a powerful blast of crimson warp energy, the beam shot through the daemons in the corridor, vaporising them in the blink of an eye. 

He didn't know where this power came from, but he quite frankly did not care. When he saw Tahiri lying on the ground like that he had lost all control of himself. A whispering voice spoke in his mind, a voice which he knew instinctively was not of the dark side of the force. It promised him power, strength, all in exchange for simply destroying as many daemonic entities as possible.

His mind was no longer in control, he simply watched from his body as it glided down the corridors, destroying every daemon which was in its path. His left hand was bleeding profusely from all of the warp energy it was releasing, crimson blood spread across his hand like veins, dripping onto the floor, leaving a soft trail of red smudges on the otherwise black decking.

"More, bring me more" he said through insane laughter, with a voice which was not his own "Is this all?" He spun around and, raising his now crimson coated left hand released another blast of warp energy down the corridor, incinerating a handful of daemons that were approaching him, his laughter echoed down the corridors, cruel and insane.

"You have all this power" the entity screeched, even though the corridor was swarming with daemons Anakin knew that he was talking too him "You had all this potential, why didn't you use it!? This is just a fraction of what a melding of the warp and the force can do!!"

He released another blast of energy, this time added with black force lightning from his right hand. those daemons who evaded the deadly beam of warp energy were struck by the unnatural lightning and died along with their torn apart brethren. He jumped into the air and curled into a ball, he uncurled quickly and a blast of powerful energy streaked out across the corridors, wiping out every daemon in its path. When the possessed Jedi knight's feet touched the ground the corridor was empty except for him.

His laughter continued to echo through the corridors, only too be stopped by a barrage of bolter fire. The Space Marines he had left in the dungeon had started firing on him, obviously just finding out that he had been possessed by something unnatural. The shells exploded a few meters away from him, as if they hit an invisible wall. The thing controlling Anakin Solo's body stood there for what seemed like an eternity, watching the assault with murderous, warp glowing eyes. He pushed out and the barrier he had originally made for defence flew across the void, only visible as the bolter shells impacted against her. It struck the Space Marines, throwing them across the corridor and against the pulsing walls with such velocity that it would have killed a normal man. With them he wasn't so sure.

The thing strolled towards them, firing off bursts of warp energy every time a daemon tried to phase through the walls. He came across the leader of the squad, a Librarian he figured by the golden armour and the staff he held in his hands. The man could not move, being held down by the enormous pressure of warp energy which the possessive daemon was releasing. He reached out with his bleeding left hand and opened his palm, ready too kill the Psyker. He imagined a lance extending from his left hand and piercing the Marine through the chest.

The Librarian looked up at him, his eyes full of resolve. There was no fear of death in this ones soul. The lance burst through the centre of his hosts palm, spurting blood and flesh as it streaked forward. Just as it was about too pierce through the golden armour it stopped and a voice, strong and determined pierced through the daemonic entities mind.

_Disappear!_

The right hand flew up and grabbed the left, causing the spear of energy to miss the surprised Librarian and pierce through the decking. Barsark looked up, seeing the glowing red eyes of the possessed being begin too change too blue, then red again and then blue. The daemons voice could still be heard from the boy's lips, but it was strained.

"This…is…impossible" it muttered as it wrestled with the young Jedi's mind "How can this…be!!"

_You did not hear me? Disappear!!_

The hands suddenly flew up and gripped the sides of the head. The body fell to its knees and gave a strangled cry. The Librarian could not believe it. How could a mortal boy fight off the advances of a daemon apparition? The body screamed one last time before falling on its face, its eyes lifeless.

The first casualty in this final battle was Ki-Adi-Mundi. The old Jedi master had begun a duel with one of the Despoilers four lieutenants, using his speed and stamina to keep the battle even with his much bigger and more physically powerful opponent. He dived, rolled and sidestepped the Chaos Space Marines swings over and over again but as the battle went from seconds too minutes too a half hour the Cerean Jedi was beginning too tire while his opponent seemed too continue on with the vigour he had at the beginning.

Eventually the Jedi made a mistake. He parried a sweeping slice from the lieutenant and made too jump into the air, with the intention of somersaulting over him. He pulled of the jump, the somersault, but as he came back down too the ground the Chaos lieutenant spun on his heel and with his power sword cut through Ki-Adi-Mundi's abdomen, neatly slicing him in half.

The Jedi master's death was felt by all the others fighting on the bridge, the Chaos lieutenants and their insane Warmaster immediately began laughing hysterically, seeing that they finally had the upper hand in this battle. The Death Guard lieutenant, recently freed from his skirmish moved on too the battle taking place between the Thousand Sons lieutenant and Mace Windu.

The second in command of the old Jedi order proved a far greater challenge however and within five minutes after the death of Ki-Adi-Mundi he had evened the score. Batting the blade of the Death Guard lieutenant away and jumping too the side, stabbing into the lieutenant's shoulder blade and piercing it as only a lightsabre could. The blade cut into the lieutenant, where the side of the neck met the shoulder blade.

Meanwhile Anakin Skywalker and Abaddon the Despoiler were attacking each other with everything they could manage. Not just with physical blows either, both opponents were using their mighty psychic abilities. Calling blasts of fire, firing flashes of lightning, lifting heavy objects off the ground and hurling them at each other, this was not just a fight between two mighty warriors. It seemed that the combined powers of the force and the warp themselves were gathering around them. It seemed that the Chaos gods and whatever deities that was the force were themselves battling for supremacy.

A blast of force lightning struck the Warmasters power armour, charring the shoulder plate pitch black. Abaddon struck down with his daemon sword, calling a blade of pure warp energy too soar across the space between them, the former dark lord was just able too evade it. He reached out for several empty control consoles and wrenched them from their places, tearing the metal and wiring which kept them in place with the decking. He sent them flying towards the Despoiler with a simple wave of his hand. The Warmaster's response was quick. He swung out with his sword, cutting each console in half as it flew towards him.

The Despoiler came running towards Anakin, Drach'nyan held firmly in his two hands. The former Sith brought his lightsabre up. Both blades met, their union christened by a hail of sparks. At such close range Anakin could feel the psychic whispers of Drach'nyan, almost inaudible too him, but probably deafeningly clear too any warp user. It wanted blood, his blood. Abaddon grinned savagely and brought all of his weight into his next swing, even though Anakin was able to block it the force from the attack sent him skidding across the decking. The Chosen one had too come down on a knee too keep his balance.

Laughing with delight the Despoiler ran at him again, Drach'nyan held over his head, ready for a downward stroke. The lightsabre intercepted the strike just in time but the force behind it felt too Anakin like he was trying too stop a one ton anvil from crushing him. The pressure from the strike was so great that the decking at his feet gave way and cratered. There was no choice, he gathered the force around him and pushed upward with a sudden yet powerful gust of wind. The Despoilers blade went flying.

Another death scream in the force made the Chosen one hesitate for but a moment, but it was enough for the Warmaster who dived for his possessed sword. Anakin looked around in time too see Shaak Ti fall face first too the metal decking, blood seeping from the fallen Togruta females chest and making a pool on the deck. His eyes alight with rage the Chosen one reached out with his free hand and clenched his fist. The World Eater lieutenants helm just imploded, blood bursting forth from the eye visors and mouth guard as he fell too the ground. His power axe falling from his now limp grasp and clattering on the floor beside him.

Seeing the death of their comrade was enough too make Obi-wan and Mace come at their opponents with renewed ferocity. Their bodies a blur as they fought their tainted opponents with everything they could muster. Obi-wan rolled under the Emperors Children lieutenant's swinging scythe and stabbed into the creature's abdomen before slicing out. The lieutenant screeched before falling too the ground dead. His battle over the Jedi master turned too the battle still raging between Mace Windu and the Thousand Sons lieutenant. He knew that he would just be getting in the way if he tried helping Anakin. That battle was one for beings like them too fight, not mortals like himself. 

He swung at the last lieutenant only too be keenly intercepted by the Chaos warriors power sword, he then swung out with his back hand, catching the Negotiator in the side of the face and throwing him, corkscrewing into the air. Obi-wan landed hard on the floor, bouncing off the decking like he was a pebble bouncing off water. He brought his feet down and skidded too a halt before running back at the last lieutenant, spitting out a glob of blood as he ran.

Mace Windu continued too push at the lieutenant's defences, using his powerful and hybrid Vaapad lightsabre form too keep him on the defensive. This one wasn't like the others; this one was a fairly powerful psyker, a sorcerer by the scrolls and parchments of ancient black runes which hung from his armour. He spun his two meter long staff in his hands, its lean black form glowing red with warp energy. He swung, barely missing Mace's head by a few millimetres, even though it was a miss the Korun master could still feel the skin of his bald head burn.

He struck out, putting the last lieutenant quickly on the defensive. Again and again he pounded at the sorcerer's defences with his lightsabre, weaving his blade until it became like a wall of violet energy. The sorcerer stabbed out with his staff, a blast of warp lightning escaping the tip, but the Jedi saw it coming and performed a perfect backward somersault, missing the scar of lightning. He landed on his feet and lunged forward, ducking a decapitating blow from the staff and lunged the lightsabre into the Thousand Son lieutenants face, the violet blade exiting the back of the traitors head.

Across the bridge Anakin struck Abaddon's daemon sword with such power that it sent the Warmaster skidding across the chamber and hitting the thick metal of a blast door. The Despoiler stood up straight only too see the one known as Darth Vader striding towards him, the two surviving Jedi flanking him as he walked. Their lightsabres ignited and their eyes set on him. They stopped as one a few meters away from the Warmaster, falling into defensive stances and lowering their lightsabres like pikes.

"This party's over" Mace Windu said with a small grin.

"Oh yes" Obi-wan replied "I think your right"

"Oh no I don't think you are" Abaddon hissed, gaining the attention of three of the most powerful Jedi in recent history "This party is not over. It has only just begun!"

Before the Jedi could stop him the Warmaster slammed his fist into the control pad at the side of the door, causing the thick blast doors too open with a shudder which encompassed the whole bridge. Massive forms of Chaos Terminators stood five abreast and at least ten back in the chamber beyond, their thick armour bearing the colours of both the Black and the Alpha Legion. With a wave of the Despoilers hand they raised their wrist mounted storm bolters and heavy flamers, ready too tear the three of them too pieces.

Just before his Terminators could open fire a storm of bolter fire crossed the space from the darkness, impacting with several of the front marines and sending them flying into their comrades. War cries filled the air along with the sounds of discharging bolters, blazing blasters and the snap of lightsabres as a force of Space Marines, Stormtroopers, battle-droids and Jedi stormed through the openings at the other side of the bridge. In the lead of this new force was none other than the Grand Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker along with his taskforce of Jedi.

_Can you hear me?_

The voice was stronger now, easier for his mind too decrypt.

_Can you hear me?_

_Yes_

_Ah good, I was worried that I had overdone it_

A landscape appeared around him. A desolate land of charred earth and rock lay at his feet. The roars of a terrible wind assaulted his ears. The smell of death permeated his nostrils. A being stood in front of him, dressed in a black tuxedo style suit with a white shirt and black tie, his hair was black, reaching down too his shoulders, silhouetting his pale face, his eyes were two different colours, the right was a piercing blue while the left was a bloody red. Anakin did not know who he was but he definitely knew that he was not human.

_Who are you?_

The man smiled, showing rows of white teeth, filed sharp.

_I am who I am_

_Just what I need, a cryptic _Anakin muttered beneath his breath _I have no patience for this, tell me who you are or leave me too cross to the netherworld_

…_Very well. You may call me Malal_

_Malal_

_I am a Chaos God_

Anakin immediately tensed, he had only known of five Chaos gods, those five were Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle, Tzeentch and more recently Shingai. He began too back away slowly from the daemonic entity in front of him, his fear clearly noticeable in his eyes. 

_Chaos God_

Malal nodded once, a curt nod which left no room for questioning. Anakin spun around to run, only too find the supposed Chaos god directly in his path, looking straight into his eyes from barely a hairsbreadth away from Anakin's face. With a start Anakin jumped backwards. Slowly he realised he wasn't going to escape this, so he took a deep breath and asked the question.

_I thought there were only five Chaos Gods_

_And so does the rest of the materium. In reality there are many entities that can be described as Chaos Gods, these beings only need a single emption or need too make them gods of the Warp. _He raised his right hand and pressed it against his chest, a mirthful grin tugging at his black lips. _I am Malal, also known as the renegade, the outcast and the lost god…in short. I represent Chaos' indiscriminate tendency too destroy…particularly itself_

_What do you want with me?_

_You have recently been possessed by a warp daemon. The proof is the pitiful state your left hand is in from releasing warp energy._

Anakin looked down at his hand and immediately saw that Malal was right. His left hand was horribly charred and covered with a still running crimson blood which dripped onto the burnt ground at his feet. It was limp and looked like it had been fractured in several places. He would probably never be able to use it properly ever again.

Grinning Malal snapped his fingers and a blast of sickle shaped war energy sliced through his mangled arm, right on the elbow, severing it. An explosion of gore and bone soon followed, causing Anakin to scream in agony. He fell too his knees, clutching the bloodied stump with his right hand. Still grinning, the renegade snapped his fingers again and a new forearm came to existence, it wasn't a human arm, it looked almost reptilian with blue shell like skin which seemed too glow with warp energy, its hand was fairly human with four fingers and a thumb but instead of fingernails there were purple claws.

_This was once the hand of one of my most powerful champions, I now give it too you. But there is a price for this._

_I will not become one of your blind followers Malal!_

_Followers_ the renegade laughed _I have no such need for followers, I never liked the idea of hordes of foolish mortals praising me…no I want you to simply destroy anything of the other five gods that you can, and in return. _

Suddenly the daemonic hand Anakin had been given began too change, its hard purplish blue scales turning into softer human skin. He could only look down at it in complete disbelief; it even felt like his real hand.

_Do we have an accord? _Malal asked as he turned and began too walk into the darkness, he raised his hand in a wave _Kill every daemonic entity you find on the Planet Killer and I will consider you released from my service, no strings attached_

Before Anakin could reply he was flung back into darkness.

He awoke too the sounds of bolter fire and inhuman shrieks. A battle was taking place all around him, the space marines had positioned themselves at a corner, firing continuously at the hordes of daemons and heretics charging them. Empty weapon clips and expended shells covered the floor at their feet along with sprays and splashes of tainted blood, and the mangled remains of mortals who were trying too overrun them.

A daemon phased through the wall, just out of range of the space marines barrage and leered down at Anakin, its fangs ready too dig into his skin. He quickly surged forward with his left daemon hand and grabbed the offending daemons head and squeezed, crushing it with a sickening sound of splintering bone and flowing blood. He pushed the disintegrating body aside and slowly got too his feet. A few stray bolt shells came right at him and immediately hit an invisible force, disintegrating with several purplish flashes.

He raised his left hand and released a powerful beam of red warp energy, every daemon within the corridor was turned too red mist, every heretic and traitor began too burn, even the few Chaos Space Marines among them succumbed. The show of power was so fierce that the space marines at the corridors edge had too take cover so as not to meet the same fate.

Bolter shells resounded throughout the bridge of the _Planet Killer_, impacting against bulkheads and consoles with dull thuds. Abaddons Terminators had been caught in a bottleneck between the bridge and the corridor and several had been peppered with bolter and blaster volleys as they tried too enter the main bridge. But now they were storming into the bridge, exchanging fire with the squads of Space Marines, Dark Troopers and Jedi running too meet them.

High above the battle Lord Vader and Abaddon the Despoiler continued their duel. Lightsabre blade and Drach'nyan stroked and jabbed, each one seeking the flesh of their master's opponent. Vader sidestepped Abaddon's downward stroke, his long black cape torn and tattered as it flowed with his movements. He swung, and caught the despoilers shoulder plate, slicing neatly through it and burning into the skin.

The Warmaster let out a roar of pain before swinging Drach'nyan, aiming to decapitate the former dark lord of the Sith. But Anakin had jumped aside, his free hand outstretched and releasing a blast of force lightning. Abaddon sneered and with a swing of his daemon sword swept it aside before surging forward, Vader was able to deflect the blade but not fully as it sliced through his armour and grazed the side of his abdomen underneath. He tensed and roared before coming at Abaddon with renewed aggression. Swinging and stabbing with his lightsabres crimson blade and immediately putting the despoiler on the defensive.

"Good, good" Abaddon sneered "That's the Darth Vader I've heard about, this is the mindset of the man who took control of the galaxy and brought the Jedi too their knees!!"

Vader wasn't listening. He just continued to strike, mentally counting off his motions in his mind to stay in control. Swing, spin, stab, parry, block, stab, jump, he jumped over the Despoilers possessed blade and somersaulted over his head, once he hit the ground he spun on his heel, bringing his crimson bladed lightsabre into a swing. He caught Abaddon, digging deep into his abdomen. The Despoiler screeched, an inhuman sound before grabbing Anakin and head-butting him, sending the chosen one sprawling onto the floor.

Before Anakin could regain his composure Abaddon was on him, grabbing him by the collar with one hand and raising his power fist, ready to crush his opponents head with one powerful strike. Anakin had been knocked back too his senses by then, he snapped his head too the right, narrowly missing the fist and released a powerful force push, hitting Abaddon's wounded abdomen and sending the Despoiler flying through the air.

With a single breath Anakin flipped too his feet, his lightsabre reactivating in his hands before charging the Despoiler, who had fallen hard on the metal decking below, knocking over several Chaos Terminators and Dark Troopers. As Abaddon regained his footing he decapitated one of the black armoured juggernauts in one fell stroke before ducking the others blast cannon and cleanly stabbing into its chest before cutting out.

By then the chosen one had arrived, jumping over a cumbersome terminator and taking off his head with a swing of his lightsabre as he somersaulted. He landed in a crouch and found Abaddon starring right at him, blood as black as night flowed from the wounds on his shoulder and abdomen, washing over the dried blood and gore whch caked his armour. The two opponents stood there poised for a moment, waiting for the other too make a move.

The loyalists were being overrun, the space marines and dark troopers were hardy fighters but they lacked the experience and firepower that the Chaos Terminators, as elites of their traitor legion had. Even now they were slowly withdrawing from the bridge, bolters and blast cannons firing continuous salvoes at the advancing column of Terminators.

"Don't you see" Abaddon scuffed "You never had a chance, from the moment you stepped aboard my ship you were playing right into my hands. You force users think your so superior too us, that the force offers you more freedom than the warp…we may be chained too the Chaos Gods but we are still better than you"

"You seem so confident Despoiler" Vader replied "But the fact is that at the moment I have the upper hand in this duel!"

"Not for long" the Warmaster grinned and raising his hands summoned all of the power entitled too him by the circle of Chaos gods. The bulkheads, the steel, the control consoles, the decking, even the main view-ports showing the monumental space battle taking place all around them started too bend and twist. Anakin heard the squealing of wrenching steel, the unholy energy which suddenly permeated the air, then suddenly the thick steel-glass which covered the main view-ports shattered, opening up the entire bridge too space.

The sudden vacuum sent dozens of Space Marines and Dark Troopers flying through it, even the Despoilers servants were thrown through the shattered view-ports. Instinctively Anakin dug his blade into the decking and held on for dear life. He caste a quick glance at Abaddon too find him standing where he once before, the hurricane winds not even making him sway, his eyes glowed red, occasionally flashing streaks of crimson lightning. 

Black wings pierced through the back of his armour and stretched out, dripping blood, his nose wrenched forward with a sickening crunch of bone reshaping, creating a maw of razor like teeth, his power armour began to crack and break as his body became too large too take it, an axe appeared in his other hand, dripping with the blood of a thousand innocents. 

"This is the power Khorne bestowed too me" Abaddon screeched "I am Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster and gods chosen of the forces of Chaos. You cannot stand against me Anakin Skywalker!"

Anakin reached for his belt with his free hand and grabbed for the second lightsabre hilt nestled there. He took the silvery hilt in his gauntlet and flipped the switch, allowing a blade of ice blue light too sizzle into existence. With a deep breath he pulled his crimson blade from the decking and let the power of the vacuum take him too his target. He flew through the air, his body straightened out like a bullet, his tattered cape flowing behind him like a shadow. He aimed the two blades straight for the still changing Despoilers chest. 

They pierced straight through, causing the Warmaster to scream in pain, at that moment he lost his footing and both warriors went zooming towards the shattered view-ports. Abaddon grabbed onto the frame for dear life, his half destroyed gauntlets digging into the unholy material. Anakin neatly landed on the framework and struggled along it towards Abaddon, he lifted his lightsabre, ready too finish of the greatest threat too the free galaxy's.

Abaddon saw Vader coming and released one of his hands from the framework, he aimed and fired off a blast of warp energy, the sickle like mass sliced through Anakin's right hand in an explosion of blood and splintered bone, the severed limb flew past him into open space. Screaming in pain Anakin fell too his knees, dropping his other lightsabre in his shock. The Despoiler was laughing now, watching as the chosen one of the force focused all of his power into staying awake. Weakly Anakin fumbled with his belt, pulling out a small orb and pushing the button in its centre, he then grabbed the Despoiler and placed it inside his half destroyed armour before planting a boot on the Warmaster's face.

"See you in hell" Anakin screamed and booted Abaddon in the face again, he watched with relief as the Despoiler finally lost his grip and fell into open space, and as the emergency shutters creaked down he saw a great flash as the thermal detonator exploded. He felt the Warmasters life wink from existence.

Abaddon the Despoiler was dead.

With that thought on his mind Anakin smiled and finally lost consciousness.


	60. Endgame

_**Chapter 58**_

_**Endgame**_

The Lord Sorcerer sat on the ancient chair, watching the battle unfolding before him on the main view screens. The enemy had the armada completely on the wrong foot, slowly encircling them and picking them off, already several fractures had appeared within the main Chaos ship clusters. Explosions flashed in the lines between the two forces, each one symbolising the death of a starfighter, an escort, a capital-ship.

Then it happened. He felt the ruinous powers influence dim considerably, as if a bright flare had lived out its life and died. The Warmaster had died. He felt it in the very fabric of the warp. For a while the warp got dimmer as if it would disappear completely, then it suddenly flashed with a raw surge of power, a power which was unmistakable. The Warmaster had just released the ultimate power which the dark gods had bestowed upon him.

Lord Sorcerer Kahn, one of the highest ranking members of the Night Lords, the legion who had just recently swore loyalty too the god of fear raised his armoured hand so that the traitor serfs could see.

"Magnify too the _Planet Killer_" he ordered simply.

The view screen came too life in an explosion of static which quickly cleared, showing the massive form of the _Planet Killer_. It was not a sight that anyone in the armada wanted too see. The once magnificent and terrifying warship, created within the warp, supposedly impregnable too anything was a bleeding corpse of what it once was. Several massive holes adorned its superstructure, spilling bodies and equipment out into open space, many of her gun emplacements had gone silent, in fact the only sign that it was still in their hands was the random flashes of still usable dark lance batteries, aiming for the vessels of the Coalition fleet.

"Closer, too the bridge section" he ordered and the image magnified again, showing a massive creature floating towards the closed shutters of the mammoth view ports. It was a sight of pure power, even as he starred at it he saw several weak serfs fall from their stations, their forms convulsing and their mouths frothing. He saw the massive dragon wings, the bulging muscles of its arms and legs, the power which radiated from it.

Their Warmaster wasn't quite dead yet.

"Prepare too exit the warp" he ordered, turning off the view screen.

--

Anakin awoke too the sounds of clanking feet and raised voices. He opened his eyes slowly, allowing his vision too get used too the suddenly bright lights. Jedi were all around him, looking down at him with worried expressions. Obi-wan grinned as Anakin slowly looked at each face in turn. Obi-wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker, Kyp Durron, Kyle Katarn, Corran Horn and Saba Sabatyne.

"Welcome back Anakin" Obi-wan said with relief.

"Help me up" Anakin said weakly. Obi-wan and Luke immediately took a shoulder each and helped the chosen one too his feet. He looked around the bridge. Most of the bodies had been cleaned out by the void but the blood still stained the decking, every console not attached too the wall had either been wrenched from their positions and those that were still there were unusable, either sparking or on fire.

Besides the Jedi around him there were several squads of Space Marines from the Blood Angel, Blood Raven and Ultramarine legions as well as ten Dark Troopers and twenty crack Stormtroopers. All running around the bridge either too defensive positions or too burn away the hideous warp growths on the walls of the former Chaos flagship. Leading the entire force was Gabriel Angelos, the famous captain of the Blood Ravens, a retinue of apothecaries, chaplains and librarians around him as he barked out orders.

More Coalition warriors moved in through the entrances. Kasrkins, battle sisters and alliance marines took up positions with those already there. Among those was a librarian carrying the prone form of a young blonde haired girl, whom he immediately handed over too one of the apothecaries. Luke seemed too recognise her and handing his father too Mace Windu moved over too the small cluster.

The Space Marines behind the librarian were keeping their bolters trained on a small form. A young man in tattered clothing

"Anakin" Luke said in disbelief as he nudged his way through the towering Marines "Anakin Solo?"

The young man looked in Luke's direction and managed a slight smile "Hello Uncle Luke"

Luke tried moving closer too his revived nephew only too find a long staff hitting the ground at his feet, it was the librarian who was carrying Tahiri earlier "Nigel Barsark, Librarian, Crimson Guard Legion"

"Luke Skywalker, Grand Jedi Master, Jedi Order" Luke replied before gazing at the marines who had their bolters trained on the young Solo "What is the meaning of this?"

"This man was possessed by a warp daemon" Barsark answered "Although I sensed that he has forced it out he needs a thorough mind examination by a priest of the holy ecclestriarch"

"There are also other things too consider" another marine added "The daemon limb is reason enough too put him out of his misery"

"Calm brother" Barsark replied calmly "We still do not know how dangerous the limb is and I must admit I find it interesting that a limb of daemonic nature was attached too this boy who obviously is not under the influence of Chaos"

"The one who gave me this limb called himself Malal" Anakin explained simply, making the marines tense "He calls himself the Chaos god of destruction. Basically he represents Chaos' need to destroy everything, even its self"

"And the limb" the librarian asked sharply, tapping his staff on Anakin's left hand, which was covered by a cloth embroidered with ecclestriarch markings and anointed with their holy water "What was his reason for giving you this"

"He wanted me too destroy every daemon I came across" Anakin answered "When I did that he would release me from his service…he didn't even give me any chances too answer"

"I have heard enough" Gabriel Angelos muttered but before he could reply one of his marines trotted up too him and saluted sharply.

"Brother Captain the site is secure" he reported "There is no daemonic activity in the area, likewise our shock teams have reported a substantial decrease in daemonic incursions"

"It's because they're scared" Anakin Solo said simply.

"How can you know that?"

"I can see them" he answered "I can see every daemon on this vessel and they are running, running back through warp tears…something is coming, something which they fear more than anything else"

"What are they running from?"

Anakin seemed to concentrate before his eyes widened in sudden horror "By the emperors black bones!"

"You dare too-" one of the marines stuttered before being stopped by the thundering voice of the boys great grandfather.

"He doesn't mean your emperor you idiot!"

"It's out there" Anakin said, his voice trembling as he pointed towards the shutters "A daemon, an extremely powerful daemon!"

Just then a powerful force hit the shudders, causing several dents too appear on the strong material. Every soldier be they mortal or immortal raised their weapons and took aim, all activating their magnetic boots too stop themselves being driven into space. Suddenly a long snout phased through the shudders, followed by a head adorned with blade like spikes, eyes of shinning crimson starring at all in attendance. A long masculine arm of black flesh was next too phase through, claws at least a meter long digging into the decking for a foothold.

"Fire at will" captain Angelos shouted and aiming his bolt pistol fired the first shot, his battle brothers and fellow Imperials followed suit, followed closely by the warriors of the Galactic Alliance. Blaster bolts, bolt shells, heavy bolter rounds, streams of flame all bounced harmlessly off its black skin. The creature continued too emerge, its body all the way down too its abdomen was visible, wings of black night stretched out, the delicate skin dripping black and crimson blood onto the metal decking.

"It's Abaddon" Solo muttered.

The daemon opened its maw and shrieked, releasing a wave of supersonic power upon the warriors before it. The Space Marines were protected by their armour, the droids were unaffected, the Psykers and Jedi were able too bring up mental barriers too deflect it but all others fell too their knees, blood seeping from their eyes, ears and nose, many were screaming in agony.

Warp tears appeared around the monster, each one big enough too fit a battle-tank through, clawed hands grabbed at the seams of the tears and pulled them open further revealing what was waiting on the other side. Four Greater Daemons forced their way through the openings, a Bloodthirster of Khorne, a Keeper of Secrets of Slaneesh, a Lord of Change of Tzeentch and a Great Unclean One of Nurgle. The four daemons looked at all in attendance before roaring with the daemonic form of Abaddon the Despoiler.

"Pull back" someone shouted.

--

Grand Admiral Antilles watched from his command throne as his carrier fired wave after wave of turbolance and turbolaser fire upon far away Chaos starships. Smaller defensive guns dotting his _Decisive _carriers hull flared, hosing Doomfire starfighters with thin red lances of laser. Occasionally a laser beam grazed an enemy fighter or hit it dead centre, causing it too either explode or spin out of control.

An explosion rocked the starship. The area affected clearly seen from the high tower the bridge was located. A section of the starboard side, one of the main turbolance guns had been strafed by a trio of Chaos Fury bombers, the shields had failed and the main munitions magazine for the long range weapon had been caught in the blast, vaporising the gun and the surrounding decks with the detonation.

"Seal off all bulkheads to main gun two" Wedge shouted over the chaos of his bridge "Where the hell is our fighter support!?"

"Green and red squadrons are tied up with enemy fighter units, gold and blue squadrons are taking heavy casualties with Chaos Ssi drones" his communications officer, a middle aged woman with high cheek bones and short brown hair stuffed under an officers cap reported "Silver squadron has been completely wiped out!"

"Incoming"

Wedge looked up just in time too see a series of flashes as a swarm of drones hit the bridge deflector shields in kamikaze runs, that was the third time in a half hour they had gotten under their defence barrage and rammed the shields.

"Bridge shields are down too fifty percent"

"What in the nine hells are the defensive gunners doing" Antilles shouted "Shoot those drones down!!"

A large series of explosions brought his attention away from the bridge too the far starboard side of the taskforce where an old _Imperial _star destroyer, the _Vindicator _lost her shields too a swarm of suicidal drones, the survivors moved on past the shattered shields and smashed into the armour platting, a nearby Chaos Cruiser took full advantage of the defenceless ship and fired a salvo of lance beams from its main batteries, causing the star destroyer too crack in half like an egg.

Wedge gritted his teeth and balled up his fists until the knuckles turned white. That was the third star destroyer that his taskforce had lost. The enemy armada may have just lost its head with the death of its Warmaster but they were still fighting with the fanatical zeal of a wounded animal in a corner. The situation on the ground was the same, the Imperial Guard regiments and Alliance Divisions were reporting harsher resistance from the Chaos armies on the ground and high losses from relentless and desperate counterattacks.

Thousands of Coalition soldiers were already reported either killed or missing in action with twice as many wounded. Several Imperial regiments and Alliance divisions had been wiped out with the fall of the northern sector including three Homeland Guard Brigades, the Imperial 92nd Stormtrooper division and the Cadian 30th Royal Regiment.

"Sir we have an incoming signal. Position, about nine thousand kilometres above us"

A warp tear appeared in the fabric of space, roughly a thousand kilometres from where the 17km long star defender _Fire Water _was stationed. Through the tear came a vessel that the Grand Admiral had never seen before, it was massive, dwarfing anything that he had ever seen, and that included the _Planet Killer_. Its basic design reminded him of a massive pyramid made of black material with eight massive arrow shaped arms separated into two sets.

The fortress fired, a concentrated beam from one of the many large gun emplacement which dotted the arms and pyramid like centre, the beam bypassed the shields of the _Fire Water _immediately and impacted its sleek hull, blasting through the thick armour like it were paper. The star defender cracked, several detonations blanketed across its hull before one final explosion erased it from the space ways.

At the same time as the star defenders death the fortress fired a full salvo from every gun emplacements. Dozens of vessels were caught by the barrage and exploded in a blanket of fire and debris, among the many ships too die in that opening salvo was Wedge Antilles carrier, the last thing the Grand Admiral was able to see was the beam of power from the Blackstone Fortresses main warp-cannon.

--

The Greater Daemons descended upon them, their claws and mandibles outstretched too grab anything they could. The Bloodthirster brought down its heavy axe in a sweeping arc and a full squad of stormtroopers were cut in half from their waists. The Keeper of Secrets moved with a finesse that should have been impossible for its size, slicing men and droids alike too pieces. The Lord of Change swiped with its claws and beak like maw, cutting anyone in its path too pieces while the Great Unclean One simply sat on the floor, letting its spores and air borne diseases spread.

All the while the daemon form of the Warmaster tried too stand, showing its great size too all in attendance. Compared too the greater daemons who were three too four meters tall the 'Daemon King' stood a grand ten meters high, with claws which could encompass a Bloodthirsters head. It shrieked again and several more mortals fell too the ground, either dead or bleeding too death from the sonic charge.

Bolter, blaster and lasfire rang out from the guns of the Coalition soldiers. Only too bounce harmlessly off the daemonic entities tough skin.

"Find some cover" Angelos bellowed as he drew his nemesis sword and charged the Bloodthirster, the Chaplains and Librarians at his back following his lead. Surviving Imperial Guard and Stormtroopers were retreating back too the main corridors where the daemons could not follow, releasing salvoes of blaster and lasfire in their retreat, the Dark troopers and regular Space Marines were taking cover anywhere they could find, firing off blaster and bolter rounds in an attempt too give some cover too the charging elites.

The Jedi hesitated for just a moment before they ran into the fight as well, lightsabres drawn and ignited. Luke Skywalker led the charge, jumping past the Bloodthirsters axe and jumping onto the back of its neck, he raised his lightsabre, ready to plunge it into the monsters head. Its tail flew up and swiped at Skywalker, forcing him to abandon the attack and force jump to safety. Others were attempting the same thing only too be forced back by the daemons. They were surrounding the Despoiler, acting as a shield until the Warmaster could master his new body as a true ascended daemon.

Gabriel Angelos charged the Bloodthirster, his nemesis blade held firmly in his right hand. The greater daemon swung his axe at him, but the Captain easily jumped over it and grabbed the daemons long ears, hoisting himself up over its head. It tried swiping him away with its wiped tail like it did to Skywalker but the Space Marine was stronger physically, he grabbed the tail in mid-swing with his free hand and plunged his sword into the back of the daemons head.

The daemon convulsed and screamed before falling in a heap on the metal decking, its entire form flaying in a vain attempt to right itself. The captain of the Blood Ravens now stood over the daemon and with his sword cut off its head in one powerful downward stroke.

--

The Blackstone fortress was almost unstoppable, in the space of a few moments it destroyed several Alliance and Imperial vessels. A large hole had been punched in the Coalitions blockade and the remnants of the Arch-enemies fleets were funnelling through and escaping too open space.

The Coalition was trying too redeploy its forces too block up the recently opened hole only too be meet by the monolithic guns of the fortress. As the blinding light died away another nine star destroyers, three light cruisers and an _Armageddon-class _Grand Cruiser had been skewered and left in space as burning carcasses.

The Lord Sorcerer smiled, if he hadn't interfered the armada would have been destroyed down too the last scout but with this timely intervention enough ships and personnel would escape too prowl the space ways and secure the worlds they had taken, turning them into fortresses. Some may run all the way back too the eye but he knew most would follow the Warmasters counter strategy.

Alarm claxons wailed.

"What is wrong!?"

"Incoming vessels" a serf reported "A hundred plus!"

Flashes of blue light stung the Lord Sorcerers eyes, and a rip of blue energy appeared just beyond the Blackstone fortress. Small bands of sleek vessels streamed through the recently opened webway and dived towards the ancient weapon, lances of turquoise and violet energy streaming from gun emplacements.

The vessels were sleek and slightly dragon like in design, they moved with a speed and manoeuvrability which should have been impossible for their classes. He only knew of two races which used vessels with that capability and of those two only one had the colour schemes which adorned their hulls. Crimson and white for half of the vessels, blacks and purples adorned the hulls of the other half.

"Eldar" the Lord Sorcerer murmured, his pike like teeth appearing beyond his torn lips "Siam-Hann and Ulthwe…gunners send these lightling scum too the warp, I'm sure Slaanesh will enjoy the taste of so many Eldar souls"

The small vessels swarmed around the Blackstone fortress, torrents of violet and turquoise beams escaping from their guns and smashing into the great monsters shields. The Blackstone fortress fired its main guns again, tearing a half dozen apart in a storm of flame and debris. The Eldar doggedly hung on, pummelling the large war machine with their weapons.

And finally from the still open portal a single Imperial battleship emerged, its armoured hull engraved with an Imperial double eagle and two lightsabres ignited in front of it. The _Reverent Blade _opened fire with all main lance batteries, battering the shields of the Blackstone fortress along with the already deadly salvoes the Eldar were dishing out.

"Status on the armada" Kahn asked simply, the firepower arrayed against them was fierce but still no match for the shields of the ancient warship.

"Over two thousand vessels have escaped my Lord" a serf replied "But the Coalition is coming for us with more ships than we can fight"

"Very well" Kahn muttered "But we have one last thing too do before we make our grand exit…prepare too destroy the _Planet Killer_, arm the main warp-cannon"

--

The torrent of warp energy encompassed the Lord of Change, and the bird like greater daemon screeched out before its head and upper body disintegrated. Anakin Solo stood before the now collapsing and dissolving corpse, eyes glowing red, daemon hand outstretched and crackling with tainted power. The Keeper of Secrets had met the same fate a few moments before, as had the Great Unclean One. Several dozen Space Marines, soldiers and Jedi lay dead on the metal decking, Dark Troopers and YVH Battledroids lay among them as sparking wrecks, taken by the daemons before Malal's gift had dealt with the massive monsters.

All that was left now was the daemonic form of Abaddon the Despoiler, the Daemon King as many of the warriors around Anakin were calling him. Bolter rounds were detonating continuously off the monsters black flesh. The daemon looked up, raised one of its long clawed char black hands and released a torrent of warp energy. The beam encompassed one of the dug in positions and erased all taking cover there from the materium.

Anakin ran around the daemon as fast as he could, his hand raised and firing bolt after bolt of warp energy at the monster. Beam after beam impacted off its armour like skin and had the same affect as the bolter rounds and lightsabre blades had, that was nothing. Anakin wasn't strong enough too break the back of this daemon. With every blast he felt weaker and weaker, the amount of warp power he was releasing taxing him physically and mentally.

He didn't even see the long whipped tail until it hit him head on, throwing him off his feet and sending him flying against the far wall with a bone jarring thud. He slumped too the ground, consciousness ebbing. He could feel his very life leaving him. Something was draining him of his life. Somehow he knew that it was the daemon hand.

Anakin Skywalker reached out with the force and elevated several thermal detonators into the air, he took a deep breath and, activating them with the force threw them at the monster. The bombs hit off the dark skin and detonated with a series of deafening explosions. The surviving soldiers were forced too find cover.

Gabriel Angelos jumped over a sparking control console and used it for cover, muttering praises and prayers too the god-emperor as he reloaded his bolt pistol. Darth Vader's attack had fazed Abaddon but the captain knew that he hadn't killed him. He rose too a firing position and fired several bolter shells into the fog. Several space marines and dark troopers joined him, releasing a salvo of blaster and bolter fire.

A shriek bellowed throughout the chamber, a blast of warp energy tore a hole in the fog like dust cloud and sliced through the back bulkheads of the otherwise ruined bridge of the _Planet Killer._ It traced its way across the black metal, leaving a feint trail of crimson in its wake, the beam stopped and the crimson trail exploded, showering the soldiers below with debris and shattered metal. A Dark Trooper was crushed under a bulkhead, a Jedi peppered with sharp pieces of metal.

Clutching the bloodied stump of his arm too his chest Anakin used his one good hand too raise another cluster of frak and plasma grenades, he activated them and sent them flying at the daemon king. A series of explosions followed.

A black claw reached through the ash and dust, so fast that Anakin was only given a fraction of a seconds warning through the force. Not enough time for him too react. It clutched him in its vicelike grip and squeezed. Anakin felt his armour crack, his ribs break. In that moment he thought it was the end.

His son appeared from nowhere and with his ice blue blade cut into the daemons forearm with all his might, he drew black blood as the blade forced its way through the nearly impenetrable skin. Abaddon released Anakin, letting the chosen one fall in a heap on the floor and let out a screech of pain.

His son stood between him and the monster, his lightsabre ablaze in his hand and his long cloak billowing in the maelstrom that Abaddons great wings were creating. He looked like one of the masters from the old texts. Other Jedi appeared around him, their own lightsabres blazing. He recognised masters Windu, Obi-wan, Durron, Horn and Katarn.

Furiously the massive daemon opened its mouth and a small ball of energy came into being, swirling strings of curved warp energy flowed into it, doubling, then tripling its size until it was as big as a Bloodthirsters head. Anakin was horrified, he felt the immense power that the Despoiler was about too unleash. It could destroy the bridge and plunge through the decks below until it punctured the belly armour and into space.

His limbs moved slowly at first, but he gathered enough force energy too make them move. He rushed past Luke and the remaining Jedi and raised his hand, drawing upon the force and creating a barrier greater than he ever made. The Despoiler released the condensed ball of warp energy. A beam of power shot through the air like a bullet, the very oxygen molecules in the recycled atmosphere caught fire around it.

It plunged into Anakin's barrier, sending him skidding backwards several meters, but it held firm. The beam continued, smashing into the barrier, creating an eternal explosion of dark red and sapphire blue light which burned into the vision of all who looked upon it.

"Go" Anakin yelled over the deafening clash.

"Not without you" Luke replied heatedly.

"I'm dead anyway my son" Anakin shouted back, he felt the ribs when they punctured his internal organs and severed arteries. The only reason he was still standing was because he was numbing the pain and prolonging his life with the force.

"No" Luke went too run too his fathers side, only too be stopped by Obi-wan and Mace. The Korun Jedi master smacked Luke in the neck, knocking his son out so they could carry him away.

"Take care of my son master" Anakin said, gaining a nod from the Vaapad user.

They ordered a withdrawal. The Space Marines and Jedi were slowly retreating through the doorway, carrying as many wounded as they could. He saw his unconscious grandson being carried by Obi-wan and gave his lifelong friend one final nod before turning back too the clash with the daemon king.

He gritted his teeth. The Despoilers strength was too great. His power too vastly superior too his own weakened state. Eventually his barrier would be overwhelmed by the daemonic warmasters barrage and he would fall. Become one with the force once again.

At that moment a Chaos god snapped his fingers, and time stopped.

Anakin could only look around, bewildered, as a man wearing a black suit appeared several meters above him, floating sideways.

"Who are you?"

"The god who will claim your grandson" the being replied "I am Malal, a being of the immaterium and I will take great delight in using your grandson's corpse for my plans. Once the life is sucked from him by my little 'gift'"

Anakin felt anger well up in his chest, the pure apocalyptic anger which made him Darth Vader. But he immediately quelled it.

"Why?"

"Ever since the wormholes connected our galaxy too yours I've become fascinated by your power source, what was it called…ah yes, the force. I wanted too create a hybrid, a being who could control both the warp and the force, and use him for my own plans"

"That's where the daemon hand had come from"

"Exactly"

"What do you want?"

The Chaos god took that moment too smile "You"

--

Captain Gabriel Angelos fired his bolt pistol, taking off a daemon head in an explosion of pink mist. All around him his battle-brothers were running, either carrying wounded or firing their weapons at the daemonic presence. The captain found it odd, there had only been sporadic daemon activity so far, it seemed that ever since that monstrosity appeared the other entities of the warp had vanished too whatever dark corner they originally slithered from.

Something just didn't feel right. Something was keeping these creatures at bay. It seemed that a great presence had engulfed the _Planet Killer_. A presence which brought fear too the black hearts of these abominations.

Gabriel hoped over a piece of twisted debris. Put a bolt round through the head off another daemon and quickly changed the clip.

--

"You want me" Anakin said.

"Yes" Malal replied "I never wanted your grandson, he was just a flare too get your attention. I want you Anakin Skywalker. Or more precisely your body"

"If I accept"

"Your grandson will be free from my service, no strings attached…and ill even take care of this big grotesque monstrosity here" the chaos god smirked "You can keep your soul too"

Anakin felt death creep closer too him by the second and in that moment he saw that this was the only way too defeat Abaddon and end this once and for all. If it cost him his life then that was his loss, he would be saving millions more.

"Done"

Malal grinned "Then be at peace son of the sons"

At that moment the Chaos god's image fell backwards and disappeared inside Anakin's body, black mist covered him and time stated moving again. Malal opened the eyes of Skywalker and starred at Abaddon. He raised the stump that was once a hand. A new limb came into existence. Bluish purple scales adorned the skin and long midnight blue claws extended from its fingers.

"A king of daemons you may be Abaddon the Despoiler" Anakin's body said with a voice which was not his own "But you are no match for a Chaos god!!"

He raised the daemonic hand and a small ball of crimson energy appeared, small strings of curved force energy became visible around it. In the blink of an eye the two powers merged, creating a ball of blackish red energy. It bubbled and sizzled with incredible power. Malal held out his hosts newly created daemon limb and released it.

It bypassed the force barrier and struck the warp spear Abaddon was firing. For moments the two forces clashed, jockeying for possession, the beams moving back and forth as more energy was added by both monumental powers. But the hybrid spear was winning. It sliced through Abaddons warp lance like a blade and encompassed the monsters head, disintegrating it in a wave of powerful energy.

Abaddon was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

The show of power ceased and Abaddons headless form slumped too the ground with a great bang. Anakin Skywalker was dead as well. his soul had been forced from his body and had rejoined the force the moment Malal took control. Such was the price for being possessed by a god. Malal looked out the massive view-ports and scowled. A powerful lance of energy was advancing quickly on the _Planet Killer_.

_Malal!!_

"Oh dear" Malal muttered with a grin as the booming voice echoed through the immaterium "It seems I made someone angry"

The lance of warp energy struck the bridge of the _Planet Killer_ and punctured the titanic vessel all the way back too its furthest engine nacelles, destroying everything in its path.

**I hope that was too your satisfaction.**


	61. Episode II Epilogue

_**Chapter 59**_

_**Epilogue**_

The ancient chamber of the Coruscant senate was in a state of chaos, but for once it was not the senators of the Galactic Alliance who were causing all of the commotion. The senate had been temporarily handed too the Imperium for a meeting. Across the hover platforms stood officials from the Imperial Guard, Eccelstriarch, the Imperial Navy, the Space Marines and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Admirals, commanders, colonels, generals, captains, priests, magi, commissars, all gathered in one place to await a historical moment.

Rumours had already spread in the three months since the conclusion of the battle of Sluis Van and the Chaos Wars. These rumours were so insane many members of the colonial fleets had taken them as badly put together jokes. The High Lords losing their powers as heads of the Imperial state, two Primarchs returning from exile after such a long time and the most surreal rumour of all was the emperor, they're beloved god-emperor had been resurrected and was even now building forces for several monolithic crusades.

The voices were suddenly hushed as the great double doors on the senate floor opened with a loud hiss. All in attendance stopped their arguments and conversations too look down at the figures entering the senate chambers. First to come through was two squads of Space Marines, their grey armour gleaming in the dim light and their bolters polished to a parade ground shine. The Marines of the Space Wolves legion marched through the senate floor and came too a stop in two lines.

Another being walked into the chamber and immediately all snippets of prolonged conversation silenced. The man who was stalking towards the central spire of the Alliance chief of states pulpit was large, standing a head taller than a space marine. His armour was grey like the Space Wolves and a long cloak, made of some type of animal fur, billowed in the wind behind him. He did not wear the helm of the honour guard who were standing at attention either side of him. His face was bald and showed the scars of several hundred lifetimes of warfare.

He jumped with superhuman ability and landed squarely on the chief of states pulpit before turning, catching the eye of all the military leaders in attendance. He took a deep breath and began too speak. His voice bellowed through the chamber, his audience caught on every word.

"Brothers of the Imperium" Leman Russ, Primarch of the first founding Space Wolves Legion began "I come before you with great news, news which will shake the Imperium of Man to its very foundations" he stopped for a moment, the senate was silent, a pin drop could easily be heard "The God-Emperor of Mankind, my father, has been resurrected"

Nothing happened for a moment as those in attendance let it sink in. Then it began, the whole senate erupted in near deafening cheers. The most dignified of admirals and generals screamed in joy until their lungs burned, even the space marines who were usually so stoic and expressionless broke out in cheers of celebration. A raised hand from the Space Wolves Primarch didn't silence them at first, but eventually the senate floor quietened and the leaders of the Imperial Colonial force gave the Primarch their undivided attention once again.

"Now" Lemon Russ began again "Let us discuss the creation of this Coalition Crusade and the final pushes which will bring the Arch-enemy too its knees!"

--

Across the one hundred thousand worlds of the Galactic Alliance there was celebration for the near crushing victory against the Arch-enemy, but on many worlds there was also mourning. Millions of innocent beings had been massacred by the Chaos invasion, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been killed. A dozen worlds had been raped and made lifeless.

On Ossus the Jedi had erected a great stone wall with the names of those Jedi killed in action etched onto its polished and flat surface. An entire section of the temple had been set aside for holographic memorials showing those killed in the war, the names and ranks of those beings etched into a golden plaque on the base of each memorial.

Luke Skywalker stood at the first memorial, watching the holographic image of his father, standing proud and tall in his white armour, an un-ignited lightsabre hilt in his hand. The plaque below stated 'For Anakin Skywalker. Jedi Master. Hero with no fear'.

There were over a hundred names etched into the wall at the back and exactly as many memorials stretched out in four lines along the courtyard. Luke looked down over the memorials of the slain and made a promise too them that the new Jedi Order would shine brighter than ever before.

Foot steps made him turn. A Jedi Master walked through the doors which led to the corridors of the main temple. Luke recognised him. He looked older, more rugged than what he remembered, but he knew one of his students when he saw them, the one who had gained the nickname as the Lost Master.

"Gabriel Sabbath" Luke greeted with a slight bow.

"Grand Master Skywalker" Gabriel replied, his bow deeper and more respectful.

"How does it feel too be back?"

"It will take a while to get used to the silence again Master" Gabriel replied with a slight grin.

Luke knew exactly what he meant, Gabriel had been lost in the other galaxy for nearly four years, and in that time he had fought many battles alongside Revan and his ragtag army of Jedi and Imperials. He had seen things, horrid things, worlds burning, men being ripped limb from limb, entire dynasties falling.

"How does your apprentice like life in a Jedi temple" Luke asked as the two started walking down the memorial pathways, glimpsing at each holographic tomb as they went and gave their respects.

"She is very…curious"

"I know" Luke replied "She has her fellow apprentices in an uproar. They have been crowding around her since she got here. And your Eldar friend as well"

"Ishta seems to be enjoying herself" Gabriel replied carefully, remembering how she went through several knights at once on the training mats. She had walked up to him afterwards, kissed him on the check and whispered as much.

"Tell her she shouldn't overexert herself in her condition" Luke replied "A baby isn't something too take on lightly"

"Just the very fact that she has been so close to humans for so long has been enough too have her exiled from her Craftworld" Gabriel muttered angrily, angry at how she had been treated. He quelled it quickly. Ishta would have chided him if she found out "She has nowhere else to go but here"

Luke nodded "What news do you have from the immortal?"

"Revan is more than happy to merge his order with ours" Gabriel began "But he wants his faction too have a voice on the new Jedi Council, and he still wishes his side to wander the space ways"

"Many Jedi are doing that these days" Luke replied. Indeed a good number of Jedi were now becoming wanderers or Ronin, travelling across the galaxy to gain a better understanding of the force.

"What about the worlds still under Chaos control" Gabriel asked.

"The Alliance and the Imperium are gathering the necessary forces too take back those planets even as we speak" Luke replied "Master Windu is keeping us filled in on the situation"

"It could take years of bloody war to reacquire those territories"

"Undoubtedly" Luke answered "But it will be done, by the force it will be done"

--

_There are dark places within this galaxy which few know of or even dare to tread, ancient centres of learning, of knowledge._

_These places were once numerous, key planets within the ancient Sith Empires from many ages. Back in the eras when force users were so powerful that entire armies fell before them. When the presence of a single Jedi, or Sith meant total victory, or crushing defeat._

_There are few places in this age which hold such knowledge anymore. Many have been plundered by thieves and slowly forgotten. _

_But such places still exist._

The Sith Lord grinned as he walked down the ancient corridors, remembering those ancient words from a famous lord who was wandering the catacombs of this ancient place beside him. This place was a maze of dusty, dank tunnels and corridors, dim red lamps flickered to life as they passed, only to fizzle out again when they were no longer required. Occasionally they would come across a chamber which could have once been a training ground, a meditation chamber or sleeping quarters. But these places were not what they were looking for.

The forests of this world had obviously retaken control of this ancient place over the several thousand years since it had been abandoned. Several times now they had too climb over the roots of trees which had broken through the ancient stone walls, or cut through growths of vines which covered entrances and doors which they needed to move through. Even though he couldn't hear them the Sith lord felt them, ancient creatures, defiled and changed through prolonged exposure too this places dark energy prowled the corridors. At least twice now they had been forced to draw their lightsabres and take these creatures down.

"To the left" the old woman muttered as they walked, and shuffled down that corridor as she came to it "We are getting closer"

"Are you sure the power source for this place is still intact?" the other lord muttered.

"I am sure" she replied "Do you question me?"

"Of course" he replied, as if any other way was useless.

They continued walking, eventually coming too a set of double doors, engraved with Sith markings and glyphs. The old woman raised her hand and the doors swung open with a great hiss of rusted joints, following by a bang as the old entry ways smacked off the dark stone walls. Beyond the doors were a set of ancient basalt stairs. They began to ascend them, feeling through the force and their own instincts that they were nearing their goal. They could hear the squeaking of vermin, the tapping of water from a crack on the walls, sometimes the old lord thought he could hear voices of tortured beings, perhaps it was his imagination.

"We are here" she said, coming to the top of the stairs and an old rusted sliding door. She raised her palm again and the doors were forced to slide aside for them, their unusable forms grinding off the floor as they moved aside, granting them entrance.

Through the doors was a chamber, its dark stone walls covered by rows of ancient and arcane consoles and machines. She continued onward through the chamber until she reached a computer console and began gingerly playing with runes and levers. Pulling aside growths and weeds which had grown over the arcane devices. The console flickered for a moment, then surged to life, runes lit up in eerie yellows and reds adorned its surface and the computer screen lit up in static. She peered down at the console, twisting knobs and playing with dials until the screen cleared.

A map of the complex was lit up before them, showing the masses of power cables as lines of different colours, each mustering at different power generators buried deep beneath the surface of the planet, beneath the underground temple they were currently on.

"Primary power, secondary power, backup generators, weapon systems, cryo-chambers…yes we can activate it all here" the old woman listed off, a small smile creeping onto her wrinkled lips "The Sith Empire will rise again, our armies will ravage our enemies and send them in flight"

Ignoring the curious stare of the lord beside her she flipped a few more switches and, extracting an ancient key from her robes slid it into an arcane lock at the consoles centre. She turned it, and then reached out to a large rune, protected by a glass case. She opened the case and pushed the rune, and the entire temple flickered too life.

Ancient weapon batteries began to swivel on their positions on the crevices and crests of the mountain it was built in, straining against the rust. Lights flickered too life across all the corridors and chambers, and deep beneath the surface, the inhabitants of over twenty five thousand years of slumber began too stir.

**Just to say that this is not the end, but I am postponing the continuation for a little while. Just to try out a few new ideas for different stories and to get an idea of the new plot I will be taking with this one. So until then Sayonara**


	62. Episode III Prologue: The Awakening

_**Warhammer**_

_**Star Wars**_

_**Episode III**_

_**Two Galaxies Saga**_

_**The Awakening**_

_**Prologue**_

_**Dramatis Persona**_

Alexander Durin, Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus - male human

Arkan Lathorise, Captain of the Custodian Guard – male human

Bas Grant, Lord Militant General of the Imperial Guard – male human

Dominic Hue, Captain-General of the Custodian Guard – male human

Emperor, God-Emperor of the Imperium of Man – male Ascended human

Fabricator General, High Lord of the Adeptus Mechanicus – male human

Lion El'Jonson, Primarch of the Dark Angels Space Marine Legion – male human (Immortal)

Master Inquisitor, High Lord of the Inquisition – male human

Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines Space Marine Legion – male human (Immortal)

Void-Dragon, C'tan Star-God – unknown

Xavier Winters, Admiral of the Imperial Navy – male human

--

The Emperor walked down the ancient corridors of the Imperial palace, taking in every grey stone, the tapestries on the walls, the fragrant whiff of incense. He took it all in and sighed in satisfaction, it had been so long since he had walked the halls of the ancient palace, the centre of power for the Imperium he had forged for the better of humanity and the galaxy.

So much had changed in ten thousand years, he had watched it change. Powerless too stop the spreading corruption and injustices taking place across the galaxy. Powerless too stop those who abused their positions to meet their own ends instead of the needs of the masses. He was not so powerless anymore, changes would be made and the Imperium would rise too its height of power once again.

The dissolving of the High Lords of Terra and the reduction of their political powers was just the first step. A cleansing was necessary for the Inquisition and the Ecclestriarch, those who used their powers to destroy and slaughter needed too be replaced. Planetary governments needed too be scrutinised and, if need be reformed.

To do this he needed to hand pick a new council of war. He needed to summon every surviving loyalist Primarch back to him. He needed to choose proper commanding officers from the best military personnel, Lord Militant Generals, Lord Admirals, Warmaster's, strategists, certain former High Lords. He needed the best.

Finally he came too his destination, a set of double doors made of solid oak with the engravings of the four great assassin temples etched into its surface. He opened the meter thick doors without breaking his stride and stalked into the realm of the Lord Assassin, the most powerful warrior from the four temples and the former High Lord, the former representative of these organisations.

The Lord Assassin sat behind a great oak desk, his body covered in sleek midnight black armour with ablack, skull shaped mask over his face. He rose as the Emperor approached him, bowed deeply and remained standing. No words were spoken from him, there was no need.

"Lord Assassin" the Emperor began "I created your organisations for the betterment of the Imperium of Man, giving your predecessor, the first Lord Assassin absolute authority too assassinate anyone who posed a threat too the security of the Imperium"

The Lord Assassin nodded in agreement, but continued too remain silent.

"But over the millennia things changed, the alliance of assassin temples ended up becoming lapdogs for the other High Lords, you became a shadow of what you were supposed too be" he took several steps towards the assassin and as they stood face too face it became apparent that the Emperor towered over the former High Lord by almost a meter and a half. He handed the assassin a datapad "This device holds the names of those that need to be removed from power. Inquisitors, planetary governors, military leaders, cardinals, I leave the ways in which they are too be disposed off too the discretion of the assassin temples"

"As of this moment Lord Assassin your position as a High Lord is over" the emperor continued "But I have another purpose for you, as of this moment you are too have a permanent seat on my new council of war, you will be given responsibilities which must be followed through perfectly. Do I make myself clear?"

The assassin gave a curt nod, and as the Emperor turned too leave he bowed deeply once again. Once the Emperor had gone and the double doors closed behind him he sat back down on his chair and began reading through the list of targets for his assassin temples. His thoughts were ones of joy and excitement, at last the assassins would have an important role too play, and at last they were given a voice. At that moment the Lord of Assassins realised that he would follow the Emperor until his bones had been ground into the earth.

The Emperor continued to stalk down the corridors away from the assassin's shrine, a small squad of Custodian Guards flanked him as he walked, their guardian spears held high and proud.

"Captain" the Emperor called.

"Yes my lord"

"Bring me the Fabricator General. There is a serious problem which I need to discuss with him"

--

On the surface the red planet of Mars remained as barren and desolate as it had been since the Horus Heresy. The red mountains and wastelands remained devoid of life. The ruins of ancient cities dotted the surface. Skeletal remains of thousands of war machines from the great battle that took place there ten thousand years ago were scattered across the landscape, half buried into the poisonous soils and slowly rusting away.

But below the surface was a different matter. Below the surface of the red planet were hundreds of catacombs from ancient underground bases and research stations. These catacombs stretched across the red planet like dried up arteries and went as deep as two kilometres.

An army of angry spirits was silently using these underground passages. Gleaming metal skeletons, crafted after some ancient alien race whose name was long since forgotten eerily wandered through the passages and corridors. Among this army were the forms of Tech-priests and Tech-Guard, their implants and mechanically enhanced brains corrupted by the unholy powers of their new master.

In an ancient chamber the Void-Dragon sat on a black high-backed chair which glistened even though the room was devoid of any light, silently watching the events taking place across the solar system through his unnatural eyes. Fleets of Necron Tombships were on the move, travelling across the sector to the Sol system. Their lords drawn to the awakening of their master like moths to a naked flame. Armies of Necron warriors and converted humans were gathering on mass, fortifying this world and turning it into a stronghold to repel the pathetic human empire all around them.

His own powers had returned and with them his true form and ability. No longer could he act like an adolescent child, his mind had grown with his powers. With the completion of his physical body and the restoration of his powers he had turned into a silent wraith, a phantom ready too tear all in his way apart.

The Imperium would fall.

And the Star-Gods would feast on a ripe galaxy.


	63. Assembling the Guard & First Contact

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Assembling the Guard & First Contact**_

"_As you can see Fabricator I am not completely unprepared to deal with this infestation"_

_The Emperor of Man to the Fabricator General_

--

It was not known to the masses of the Imperium that the immortal God-Emperor had been revived. As far as the citizens of the Imperium of Man, and the myriad other forces in the galaxy knew it was just business as usual. The million worlds of the Imperium carried on living like any other day. A hundred worlds across the Imperium were being fought over for control between the titanic war machine of the Imperial Guard and the maelstrom of alien, traitor and un-dead armies vying too take control.

Armageddon was still under siege by the Orks. Cadia was still at a state of red alert, waiting for Chaos' retribution for the monumental losses they suffered in the other galaxy. The Tyranids still attacked worlds in the far eastern fringe. The Tau Empire was planning a counterattack for the failed Imperial Crusade against them. Reports indicated that the Craftworld Biel-Tan had appeared over a world which was being colonised and were threatening all out war with the little colony, claiming it to be one of their Exodite worlds.

He would deal with all this in time.

The Emperor stood on one of the verandas overlooking the old mustering grounds, watching the sun of the Sol system set on the horizon. He did not allow his eyes to leave the sight. He would burn this image into his mind. The first time he had seen the sun in over ten thousand years, such a simple thing, yet a thing that meant so much to him at this moment.

The great double doors at the other side of the chamber opened and the Fabricator General, the supreme commander of the Adeptus Mechanicus stepped into the chamber, adorned by a flowing hooded red cloak. His face was a mask of augmented implants with eight thin metal tentacles extending from his chin and the sides of his face. Another eight long tentacles stretched from his back, wrapped around his armoured form like the legs of a spider, his two hands held a myriad of weapons including wrist-mounted miniature lasguns, missile launchers and two power-swords attached to his forearms. His waist held the holster of the Mechanicus' ancient bolt pistol and the power-sword of his office, a dark red hilt and guard with gold engravings, the blade was a meter long liquid silver with black engravings on the flat sides.

"My lord Omnissiah" the Fabricator said, his voice augmented with mechanical implants, he came down on a knee and bowed his head.

He had seen the image of the Emperor in the ancient tapestries in the holy churches and cathedrals he had visited but they just seemed so insignificant now compared to meeting the man in the flesh. The Emperor wore his ancient and legendary battledress. Gold ceramic power armour with runes and hieroglyphs decorating its armoured surface, a long cloak of crimson lined with silver and gold with the black double imperial eagle marked on its surface. His ancient power blade was sheathed at his waist with a golden bolter holstered.

"Rise Fabricator General" the Emperor commanded "I have a very important problem which I wish to discuss with you"

"Yes my lord"

"A dark shadow is spreading across the surface of Mars" the Emperor began, turning around and looking at the retreating sun as he spoke "A false god who your order calls the machine god is forsaking the relics and artefacts of the sacred world of Mars. His actions will create a civil war within the Adeptus Mechanicus, within the Imperium itself. A war not seen since the herecy"

The Fabricator remained silent. He wanted to deny the Emperor. Tell him that he couldn't be right. But deep down he knew that he was speaking the truth, the leader of the Adeptus Mechanicus couldn't quite explain it, but he knew in the depths of his soul that he needed to trust him.

"The armed forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus are at your disposal my lord"

"Good" the Emperor replied "Gather as many warriors as you can. Do not relay any orders to Mars. I want a total blackout of the chief forge-world. Discretely deploy your forces on that planet and await my own"

"Yes my lord" the Fabricator replied and was about to leave but a flicker of movement on the outside caught his attention. He walked up to the balcony the Emperor was standing on and looked into the courtyard beyond. If he still had organic eyes they would have been as wide as dinner plates.

The courtyards were filled with columns of Custodian Guard. Fully dressed in their golden armour, with crimson red battledress and long streaming cloaks which bellowed in the wind, making them look like an army of wraiths in the twilight of sunset, their helmets were shaped like spear tips with a long crimson mane flowing out of their backs, completing the image of warrior-ghosts to the supreme ruler of the Imperium and the galaxy. In their hands they held the ancient and legendary guardian spears, long poles of red etched with golden markings, a bolter attached to its front which in turn had a long bayonet type blade attached too its lug.

The full legion of ten thousand Custodians had to be in attendance along with the massive bulky forms of the armies Hellfire Dreadnoughts, their own golden armour polished too a shine by the masses of Tech-Marines who were travelling within their ranks, performing prayers and rights too the weapons and mechanisms. Chaplains and Librarians moved through the army, their amplified voices roaring prayers and praises from the holy books, their hands anointing their fellow battle-brothers, preparing them spiritually for the coming battle. At the head of the congregation was the mighty Captain-General Dominic Hue, the strongest and most powerful of the ten thousand, the Captains standing too attention in a line behind him.

It was the Captain-General who saw the Emperor standing on the royal balcony. He didn't utter a word, only nodded his head, a nod which was returned by the immortal leader. He bowed and raising his spear stabbed its butt down onto the basalt floor. The resulting echo brought the rest too attention. The second bang was unanimous, ten thousand guardian spears hitting the ground in unison, then again, and again, and again. It continued until the Emperor raised his hand, strapped inside a golden gauntlet with the Imperial eagle etched onto its back and the army went eerily silent once more.

"As you can see Fabricator" the Emperor said with a smile "I am not completely unprepared too deal with this infestation"

The Fabricator didn't utter a word, only nodded slightly. The Custodian Guards had not mustered like this in his lifetime, or the lifetimes of at least ten of his predecessors he was sure. He had recorded this moment, for the footage would undoubtedly be placed in the royal archives of the Imperium. The Emperor and his Custodian Guard, together again after ten thousand years and preparing for war like they hadn't missed a beat. It was magnificent.

"Fabricator" the Emperor said softly, catching the former High Lords attention from the army in attendance below "Assemble a small army of your most devoted and trustworthy Tech-Priests. Enough to get a planetary defence online and meet me in the war room in the southern section of the palace"

--

It had taken the Fabricator General four hours to assemble the personnel that the Emperor asked for. Nearly a hundred and fifty red robed Tech-Priests marched down the halls in a column of five by thirty, all following the wraith like form of their lord. Down the many hundreds of corridors of the ancient palace, past the walls covered in ancient tapestries showing pinnacle moments in the great empires history.

The ready room in this section of the palace had not been used in thousands of years and yet the floors, furniture and walls were cleaned, no cobwebs hung from the tapestry covered basalt walls, the thousand year old computer consoles, astropath systems that hadn't seen a navigators mind in millennia, and mapping tables which once showed the great battles of the Great Crusade and beyond were spotless. Standing in the centre of this ancient place was the immortal Emperor, who turned to face the congregation of the Mechanicus.

"As you have asked for sire" the General stated as he stepped forward, the hundred and fifty Tech-Priests falling on their knees and bowing to the towering man in reverence "A force of my finest and most loyal priests, at your command"

"Excellent" the Emperor replied and stalked to a bare section of the wall where the tapestry of Saint Sabbat, the martyred saint of the Sabbat worlds stood proud in her golden armour, her blade of liquid silver stabbing into the head of an unnamed daemon prince. He pushed a section of the tapestry and the drawing rose up, revealing the dusty lines of an ancient basalt door, four holes were plunged into the stone "I require four of you to step forward and unlock this door!"

There was the slight whirl of machine language as the adepts conversed amongst themselves, then four priests rose and stalked towards the immortal Emperor, raised their staffs and stabbed the tips into the holes, they then began to turn them clockwise a hundred and eighty degrees. The doors hissed and then fell away, revealing the dark interior of an ancient passage.

Wordlessly the Emperor entered, drawing his sword from its sheath and whispering softly to his weapon, the blade began to hum and glow with a golden hue, illuminating the secret hall in eerie light. The Fabricator and his Tech-Priests hesitated for a moment before the High lord stalked forward, followed by the red cloaked figures of his priests in well disciplined ranks.

The Emperor stalked down the darkened corridor, holding the sword in front of him. Tip aimed at the ceiling to illuminate the passage. After three hundred meters he came to a chamber, its lighting had long since been extinguished. In the centre of this was a massive elevator, easily large enough to hold two hundred able bodied men. The Emperor did not hesitate. He walked into the lift, beckoning the small army of Tech adepts to follow him, which they did. The Emperor walked up to a control console, pressed several runes and felt a sudden thrust of g-force the elevator descended into darkness.

Eventually they felt a whoosh of air, symbolising that they had come out of the shaft and into a larger chamber, a very large chamber based on the howl of the wind, in fact the chamber was so massive that the emperor's sword could only illuminate a small section of the place. The high lord squinted, his highly sensitive augmented vision just seeing the split second shine of the light hitting off a metallic surface. The Fabricator switched his vision from normal to night vision.

It was a dry-dock, a massive underground dry-dock, stretching out for as far as the eye could see. Walkways held up by thick metal cable stretched along the sides of the dock and high above in the seven kilometre high ceiling. A massive bulk of some vessel lay in the dock, big enough for the high lords mind too be a new generation of battleship.

"You and your adepts have two days to prepare her for space flight. Can you do that?"

"It will be done my lord" the general replied, a ghost of a smile touching his lips as he saw the warship laid out before him. He always loved a challenge.

--

A cloud of metallic shapes travelled the ruinous corridors of the warp, the main fleet of the Dark Angels, their Gellar fields on full power even though the torrents of assaulting ruinous energy seemed more calm than any on board had ever seen. On the command deck of the Battlebarge _Angel of Retribution _Chapter Master Azrael watched as his Primarch paced restlessly across the gleaming marble deck, his winged helm covering his features.

Lion El'Jonson was pacing because he felt that the events which his father had foreseen were already in motion. Like all those who had the Emperors blood flowing through their veins the Lion was an inept psyker, his power being of one of the higher classes between high beta and high alpha. He felt the tiny pinpricks of voids, thousands of them closing in on the sacred soil of Terra and the Sol system.

The armies of this Star-god creature were amassing, thousands, maybe millions of the soulless Necrons aboard their vile Tombships, all closing in on the holiest place in the entire Imperium, in the whole galaxy. For such a battle the Dark Angels needed every ship they could muster, and they did just that.

Their four Battlebarges _Unrelenting Fury, Ultimate Vengeance, Undying Faith _and _Angel of Retribution _were at the centre of the procession with a fleet of Strike Cruisers and picket frigates flanking them. The _Retribution _was chosen as the flagship by the Lion because of its long history, the vessel itself dating back to the Great Crusade ten thousand years before.

"My lord" Azrael said "We are approaching the Sol system. Do we have permission to drop out of the warp and declare our arrival?"

"Permission granted Chapter Master" El'Jonson replied as he turned and stalked back to his command throne at the centre of the monolithic command deck of the Battlebarge.

The throne was made of golden metal embroidered with dark green and black on the arms and sides, his own blade sheathed in a scabbard attached too its left side. Two space marines of the Primarchs newly restored Chapter Guard flanked the throne, both veterans of over a hundred years of combat wearing the dark green armour of the chapter with golden embroidering around the helm and shoulder plates to symbolise their status. Green bladed power swords were held firmly in front of them, blade pointing down to the metal decking. The Lion took his seat and waited for the multicoloured dimension of the warp too fade away to the normal starlight of realspace.

What greeted the taskforce were the blinding flashes of fire and silent explosions. A section of the outer-defences was ablaze, washed over with lances of orange and green light. Several defence platforms were burnt out and hanging dead, two space stations were drifting away from their positions, ablaze with fire and explosions which ripped whole decks apart. Thousands of tiny miniscule shapes symbolised the launching of fighters and gunships against whoever was attacking them. Warships were appearing in the distance, heading for the battle.

"They're here already" El'Jonson mumbled, his gauntleted hand resting on the silver wrapped hilt of his power sword "Long range auspex, find our fleet some targets will you!"

A few moments passed as the astropaths searched the sector, finally a cluster of images flashed to life in front of him. Six Necron Tombships were striking at the defensive positions, clusters of smaller vessels streaming past them to wreck havoc in the Imperial lines. The Lion raised an eyebrow, Tombships were rare too see, too date only three such vessels had ever been spotted in one battle and he had read enough of the reports to know what kind of damage these capital-ships could do. Nothing in the Imperial arsenal could stand against them one on one. Not even a battlebarge.

"All long range lance batteries target the closest Tombship" he ordered, calm and in control "Hit it with everything. Don't stop firing until it starts to burn!"

The four Battlebarges fired their main lance batteries as one, the beams streaking across the darkness and passed by the closest Tombship, only two beams struck the liquid metal hull of the battleship and those beams were absorbed by the powerful shields. In response the Tombship turned around and fired its long range gausse cannons, the green streaks of lightning struck the void shields of the _Undying Faith_, the shields held.

The Tombships gausse cannons found and struck another four ships, the shields of the Strike Cruisers _Divine Justice _and _Unbending Faith _held, the frigate _Devotion _suffered a glancing blow but the frigate _Sergeant Naaman _took a direct hit, its shields failed and the green cannon fire sliced through the heavy armour, the frigate went up like a flare.

By now the Tombship was in range and the four Battlebarges released everything they had, lances beamed from main cannons, las-cannons and rail guns flared. The combined firepower of four of the deadliest warships in the Imperium descended on the Necron starship, the combined fire seared through their shields. Their combined fire sliced into their hull plating causing several internal explosions. But the Tombship kept coming, its main cannons firing upon the amassed fleet of the Dark Angels and their descendant chapters.

A swarm of small silver objects escaped from the dying Tombship, small pin shaped vessels whose liquid silver hulls glistened in the starlight. In response the Primarch ordered the launch of their Thunderhawk compliments. Several moments later a second salvo of lances punctured the already strained armoured hull, tearing the Tombship into two pieces.

"More ship signals coming in sir" a serf called "Densely packed, can't tell how many"

"Helmsmen, get us behind the front line" El'Jonson shouted "Send a distress call to Terra and the naval bases of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. We need as many ships as they can spare!!"

Another twelve Necron Tombships came into existence, slowly materialising out of nothing, swarms of smaller vessels streaked around them. Twenty _Scythe-class _Harvest Ships, fifty smaller raiders of different classes, each spilling out torrents of small fighter and bomber craft to join the five remaining Tombships already exchanging fire with the forces of Battlefleet Terra. The long range vox-channels were in complete chaos, according to many high ranking officers this was already the largest fleet of Necron vessels ever seen, and the numbers were still growing. Another two Tombships appeared fifty thousand kilometres off with a compliment of six Harvest Ships.

Taking a deep breath Lion El'Jonson sat in his command chair and prepared to lead the Imperial defenders in perhaps one of the most decisive battles in the Imperium's history.


	64. Invasion of the Chief Forge World

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Invasion of the Chief Forge-World**_

"_We mourn the dead when the battle is done, come my sons, our enemy waits!!"_

_The Emperor_

_--_

Shoals of starships moved along the space lanes of the system, moving in their thousands like long ribbons of steel and fire. The traders, transports, yachts and personal shuttles numbered in the millions and refused to stem. In the distance were the familiar shapes of Imperial navy Cruisers and Frigates, keeping the starship swarms in order.

No one would suspect that an army was using these space ways to move to their objectives undetected. Among the fleeting vessels were requisitioned transports, each one ranging from a kilometre to five and carrying companies or battalions of troops in their holds. Within several of these vessels were the Adeptus Custodes, the full force of ten thousand battle ready immortals, as well as the Emperor himself and the Terran based contingents of Silver Spears, Imperial Fists and Salamander Space Marines.

Several Cruisers and Battlecruisers of the Imperial navy had been chosen and filled with Imperial Guardsmen. Already they were landing their forces as discretely as possible on the red planet of Mars to prepare for the arrival of the Space Marines and Custodians. The Emperor had full confidence in them. They were the best, drafted from Cadia, Armageddon, the Sabbat worlds, even from Terra herself. All together numbering one hundred thousand warriors and tanks, their objective was basically to cause a commotion, to assault the planet in full force and provoke the Star-God's forces into a fight. According to early reports it was working.

While this battle was taking place the Emperor and his forces would land quietly away from the battle and split into two groups, one to take and hold the Titan bays, wait for the loyalists of the Mechanicus to arrive with the needed crews while the other half were too enter the catacombs, find the Star-God, and eliminate him. With him gone the Necron army was sure to disappear as they did countless times before.

The Emperor sat on one of the chairs with his warriors, his massive form tied down by crash webbing, his sword held in his hands. He watched the sword, sheathed in its scabbard in his hands and stopped himself from remembering that he hadn't wielded it in ten millennia. None of the Custodes spoke, they didn't need too. They all knew what had to be done. They all knew what their objectives were. All eager to prove themselves in front of the man they had been serving for most of their lives.

The Emperor considered the hard fighting ahead, how for many here this would be their last battle, he shook the thoughts away. Such was the fate of those who gave their life to war. Eventually their luck and skill would fail them and they would die on the field, he sighed, in many ways he was no different. He tasted death once already, lived as a shell for ten thousand years. He would not make such a mistake ever again.

The Emperor of humanity, the lord of mankind pushed the thoughts to the farthest reaches of his mind and focused on the battle to come. His breath became steady. He closed his eyes and felt every jolt and shudder of the vessel around him, every breath and heartbeat of the men who surrounded him. He felt the anxiety, the fear, and the excitement. The Custodian Guards, who had not seen true battle since the Heresy were about to take up arms once again, and may their enemies fear.

--

As the streams of starships passed by the orbit of Mars a small cluster of transports and freighters broke away, passing by the formidable orbital defences as if they weren't even there. Far off at the other side of the planet a fleet of Imperial Cruisers sat, their gapping hanger maws open and allowing groups of troop transports to descend down too the planet. Clusters of missiles were being launched from gun ports across the capital-ships armoured prows, punching through the atmosphere and flying down towards their targets, which were christened by blossoms of fire and dust.

As the freighters came down to orbit their sides opened up, revealing them not too be freighters at all but carriers containing dozens of seed shaped drop pods, held in their compartments by titanium clamps. One by one the clamps released their pods, allowing them to drop like stones through the atmosphere towards the shimmering red surface of the chief forge-world.

They punctured the atmosphere and entered the stratosphere as hundreds of fiery comets with fifty meter tails of reddish orange fire. As they came within two hundred meters of the surface their lower sections lit up as thrusters came on line, lighting up the lower compartments with ghostly blue light, stopping their descent and allowing them to punch the surface of the red planet. Over a hundred pods descended from the atmosphere and smashed into the ground amidst a defensive perimeter of turned Mechanicus troopers. Mostly low level Tech-Guard and a few silver cloaked Tech-Priests.

One priest approached the pods and tapped one with his staff several times before turning to the Hypaspists and conveying a set of orders to them through a series of screeches and mechanical noises. As one the troopers raised their lasguns and released a torrent of lasfire upon the drop pod, peppering its hull with the ruby bolts before another series of electronic screeches from the silver cloaked Tech-Priest stopped them. The outer walls of the pod detached with a hiss of steam and fell forwards to the ground, only darkness seemed to lie within. The Tech-Priest approached the opening, holding its long staff tightly in its hands. It surveyed the interior with its augmented vision.

The long blade of the Guardian spear stabbed through the priests chest with the screech of metal, digging deep into the tech-priests chest, the cyborg let out a screech of pain before the spear was wrenched free and the dead husk of flesh and metal fell backwards to the ground. The Hypaspists raised their lasguns as the massive armored form of the warrior responsible stalked into the dull red light, its golden armor tinted by the light, its long mane and cloak of crimson flickering in the wind.

The tech-guard opened fire, but the ruby las bolts ricocheted harmlessly off its armor. Shrugging off the assault the Custode lowered his guardian spear with one hand, bringing the bolter attached to its shaft to bear, sweeping the spear back and forth as he assaulted the enemy with two second bursts. Three Hypaspists fell to the opening barrage, their forms turned from solid matter to puffs of metallic pink mist at such close range.

Three more Custodes appeared from the shadows of the pods interior and joined their comrade, opening fire with their own guardian spears. The tech-guard infantry did not run, their programming knew no such function. They stood where they were, firing their lasguns and got slaughtered as more and more royal Custodes exited their drop pods and laid waste to the enemy positions with streams of bolter fire.

Arkon Lathorise exited his drop pod and jumped with supernatural speed, landed in a crouch and impaling a Tech-Priest with his Guardian Spear. Quickly he drew his bolt pistol and put a round into three Tech-Guards as he spun around the prone body, wrenching his spear free. He then leveled his spear and fired the bolter at its end, putting several gapping holes into another two guards.

He continued his advance to the entrance of the catacombs, a massive set of thick titanium steel doors built into the brownish red bedrock, wide enough to allow five guards to march in side by side. Twelve Custodes joined him in the advance, guardian spears lowered and releasing quick bursts of bolter fire, the blades attached to their lugs dripping crimson blood from the dozens of once loyal soldiers they had slain.

The Emperor was ahead of them, ignoring the battle taking place around him as he came to the titanium doors. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both of his hands and raised it over his head, he struck down. A blade of warp energy left the blade and dug into the thick titanium of the doors, slicing through the strong material like a knife through butter. For a moment nothing happened, then a thin crack appeared in the doors from the top of the left side diagonally down to the right side, the doors collapsed.

By then the last few traitors had been disposed off by his Custodians and they gathered behind him, a small force of two hundred warriors and three gold plated Hellfire Dreadnoughts. Reports streamed in from their ear communicators, the other five positions had been taken with next to no casualties. Enemy forces defending the positions consisted of low level Tech-Guardsmen and a few Priests. It was all easy, perhaps too easy.

--

Xavier Winters was considered young to be in the admiralty. In fact most men of his age were officers on escort ships. Yet by the time he was twenty five years old he was made an admiral of the 22nd Imperial Squadron, from captain of a _Cobra-class _destroyer to admiral of a fleet made of two _Armageddon-class _Battlecruisers, six _Firestorm-class _Frigates and twelve _Cobra-class _Destroyers.

To many people Xavier Winters was a spoilt man from a rich family, who became an admiral because of their rich pockets. But Xavier Winters was chosen because of his actions against Dark Eldar raiders, he and his destroyer defeated three enemy starships, saving the small colony through sheer strategic brilliance. Winters was eager to prove his critics wrong, he wanted a major battle where he could put his mind to good use.

His chance had come, and he didn't even notice until the Necron Tombship appeared right in front of the shipyards of Jupiter. His fleet was in dry dock there, rearming and refueling for a long jump to the Trojan system. The Tombship appeared like a ghost from the warp at first and the admiral rubbed his eyes, thinking that they were playing tricks on him.

When the arc lightning hit one of his docked destroyers, the resulting explosion destroyed the _Lady Basalt_, damaging the docking bay she had landed on, a second lance of arc lightning cut into the armored hull of one of the shipyards hubs, causing several internal explosions and severing two connection bridges. This was followed by a volley of green lightning which destroyed several more hubs and the starships they were docked onto.

"Order the fleet to perform an emergency launch" Winters yelled to his vox-officers.

"Yes admiral!"

A storm of heavy weapons fire blazed from the hundreds of defense platforms and battle stations, like the very sun itself exploded into thousands of shards of incandescent death. Nova cannons, batteries of lances, rail guns, clouds of torpedoes. The pure mass of firepower reduced the Tombship to a dead corpse by the end of the first salvo.

As the Tombship's corpse fell across the dark skies, jets of flame and smoke streaming from its many wounds Winters heard the snap of the massive clamps as they disengaged from the adamantium hull. The decks creaked and shook as the mighty nuclear sublight engines of his battlecruiser began to cold start with a numbing growl. All around the monolithic vessel the smaller destroyers and frigates were already rising from their docks like clusters of specks in the starlight.

The larger vessels were still heating up their main engines, small vessels like destroyers had small enough engines that they could launch almost immediately but the larger the ship the bigger the engines and the more nacelles to start up. It took a vessel the size of an eight kilometer battlecruiser nearly an hour to properly launch, but while it took their engines time their weapon batteries were more than ready to fire.

Alarm claxons began to wail as another set of contacts appeared across the Jupiter defense grid, eight more Tombships appeared defended by dozens of Harvest Ships and Raiders. Thousands of small attack craft and fighters exited their motherships, diving straight into the centre of the defensive lines. Rail-guns, plasma cannons and heavy laser batteries flared streams of bright explosive light upon the enemy forces but the fighters were fast, just blurs of motion to the guns targeting sensors, the gun crews found themselves firing blindly, hoping to hit a target that wasn't a friendly unit.

"Long range weapons systems fire" Winters yelled "All anti-fighter guns open up, launch fighter units!"

--

There was no marching in columns down the first corridor of the Martian underground. Instead the two hundred Custodes went in carefully, hands tensed on guardian spears, power swords and bolter weapons as the first teams slowly descended down the way. For several minutes there was nothing but the hiss of static on the helm receivers, then the static crackled and a voice could just be heard.

"Scout team to…all…" the transmission was garbled by static and snow, whatever was down there they had technology sufficient enough to make even short range communication difficult, not that it should be surprising, they were dealing with a splinter faction of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"Say again sergeant, I repeat say again" Captain Lathorise replied, his left gauntlet holding the left side of his helm to try and gain better reception.

"…clear, all…"

"All clear" the Emperor said as he stalked down the dark corridor, his hand resting on the hilt of his power sword. Ten members of his specialist Companions following him as he walked towards the first cave network while the others hesitated for a moment before continuing.

The Emperor stood out from the others, bedecked in space marine armour which was obviously grafted for his body. A mask covered his face showing the Custodes a visage of an ancient and stern warrior. Slanted slits, covered over by black eye visors gave the Emperor the same advantages as his guards. But he didn't need them, his eyes could adapt to the darkness the moment he stepped into a world devoid of light, he could see everything as if it were the middle of a sunny day.

The Emperors mind was always creating strategies to deal with any enemy force they came across, his eyes darting too and fro across the corridors, taking in every stack of munitions or equipment crates, every conduit nestled and every groove in the walls, anything that could be used as a barricade against enemy fire. There were very few if any places to take cover. If the enemy attacked them here they would have the advantage and he would have to use up a portion of his power to defeat them and move on, thus making himself weaker when he finally confronted the C'tan.

He couldn't sense the Necrons through the warp. They could not be sensed by the warp. This made his early warning warp powers near useless. He would have to fight without them, instead relying on his supernatural strength and speed to get the job done. But he could sense them, instead on trying to sense a living creature or machine he had to stretch out and look for voids in the warps fabric, small patches of nothingness in a universe of darkness and despair.

When he did try this new strategy he found with near horrifying realisation that it worked, there was a patchwork of voids in the warp, a patchwork so dense that it made it difficult for him to reach out and touch the warp. They were all around them, but where?

"The walls" he muttered, looking around them and feeling wriggling voids just a few feet within the bedrock, in one quick motion he drew his power sword and pointed it towards the wall. In a blur he stabbed the sword into the bedrock, cutting through the stone all the way to the shaft where the blade met the guard. There was a spark. Then a tiny internal explosion as whatever was beyond the bedrock died. He pulled the sword forward, using his telekinesis to keep whatever he had run through on the blade. The rock cracked and broke away revealing the skeletal remains of a Necron warrior limply hanging, pierced straight through its chest cavity by his power sword.

"The walls, they're in the walls!" he shouted, his Custodes lowering their spears and releasing bursts of bolter fire into the bedrock, chipping and creating craters in the smooth rock surface "Fire at will, break these walls, reveal our enemy!!"

The continuous bolter fire exposed dozens of Necrons, just coming to life and trying to claw their way from their earthy tombs before the Custodes peppered them with bolter shells, causing metal heads, chest carapaces and limps to explode into hundreds of metallic shards and torn wiring. Further down the corridor more Necron warriors were crawling from the walls, hefting their gauss cannons and aiming them for the Imperials, several Custodes saw them and rotated their spears to begin firing upon them.

A blast of eerie green energy exploded from the Necrons gauss weapons, striking a Custodes chest plate and burning through the armour, then the fatigues, then flesh, blood and bone. The Custode screamed as he was flailed alive from the Necrons weapon, these guns didn't just kill you. They made it as slow and painful as a single shot could. Enraged the Emperor reached out with his free hand, concentrated a mass of warp energy into his palm and clenched his fist, a dozen Necron warriors just imploded, their metal bodies shrieking as they crumpled like paper. He lengthened his range and repeated the psychic attack, another two dozen warriors crumpled and imploded with a tortured shriek of overstressed metal.

"Scout unit report" he heard Captain Lathorise call over his ear piece, when nothing came through but static he repeated his statement. All he could hear was the rapid miniature explosions of bolters going off and the ghostly whipping sounds of Necron gauss cannons before the connection was lost once again.

"Push forward" the Emperor commanded with conviction "In the name of the Emperor, the Companions, the Custodian fething Guards!!" even with the seriousness of the situation the Captain heard sniggering over the vox-channels at their lords sudden cursing.

A Necron, different from the others broke through the wall, its form stooped over and a midnight blue cloak draped over its shoulders and back, which were covered in long razor edged spikes, a staff was held in its hands, a creation of liquid silver with the insignia of its master, a snake dragon curled around its grip.

The Emperor roared. A terrifying sound before throwing his power sword at the Necron Lord, the blade spun in midair as it flew, the tip striking the lords chest plate and exiting through its back. It screeched as it fell backwards, arms outstretched like it was being crucified on an invisible cross. The Emperor stalked forward, drawing a stormbolter from its huge holster at his waist and spraying the awakening Necron with bolter shells, ripping metallic skulls, chests and waists apart, not a single shot was wasted, not a single warrior got back up. When the Emperor reached the downed lord he saw that it was already stirring, so he lifted one of his booted feet and slammed it on the creature's skull, flattening it in a single stomp which created a crater in the floor below the lord's head. He then wrenched the sword from the corpse and began walking forward again, his stormbolter spitting out bolter shells, destroying three more Necrons beyond repair.

With the death of their lord the surviving Necrons became transparent and vanished into the darkness of the corridors, the voids vanished from the warp, leaving behind a vile taint. The opening battle went to them but at a cost of five Custodes and another twelve injured from grazes, all were willing to continue. As he thought this several Custodes were pulling their fallen brethren into a line at the side of the corridor, the Emperor approached a Custode who was receiving rites from a chaplain. The gauss burn had struck the chest plate of his power armour, melting it away and continuing to burn through his fatigues and flesh, the battle-brother was barely breathing, his eyes glazed over, the pain forgotten. The Emperor knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, eyes closed and recounting the last rites in place of the chaplain. For the last few moments of his life the Battle-brothers eyes shone with pride before the light faded and he went limp. Silently the Emperor closed his fallen guard's eyes and rose. Starring at the surviving Custodes who were ready and waiting for his orders.

The static suddenly gone Captain Lathorise tried hailing the scout unit again, what greeted him was more explosions of bolter fire and yet more whipping zaps of gauss weapons.

"We mourn the dead when this battle is done" the Emperor said before turning and continuing through the corridor "Come my sons, our enemy waits!!"

--

Eyes as black as night starred into the abyss, seeing the thousands dying around him, as the armies and fleets who swore their allegiances to him fought through the living and their defences. The void-dragon's eyes were nothing but black pits which saw all, knew all and hungered for more.

A single bright light flickered among the many, its power greater than anything it had felt in a long time. The only ones who even came close to this were the Old Ones he had fought and destroyed at the beginning of time, but they were long dead. This man, this Emperor of the vast human empire was supposed to be a half dead corpse, withering away in a life supporting throne of gold. Yet he was leading an army of golden warriors through the catacombs to him.

The void-dragon had quenched his hunger on thousands of living souls thus far. From the hundreds of fools who had sworn allegiances to him and from the thousands of pathetic humans they had kidnapped for him, but his hunger was not sated, it could never be sated until all life in this galaxy was dead and only a cold, lifeless silence swallowed up all the worlds once again.

He rose from his glistening black throne and stalked down the steps, his long tattered black cloak dragging across the floor behind him. On the floor, imprisoned in rusted chains were dozens of humans, men and women who were moaning, sobbing, even screaming in terror and fear. He stalked through the floor of bodies, men and women he passed had their lives sucked from their bodies, turning them into mummified corpses, their cries for help suddenly silenced.

"He is here" the dragon rasped as he stopped and slammed his staff into the ground, stabbing through a middle aged man with a sickening crunch as his ribs and spine were shattered and the spurting of his blood onto the dragons black armoured robes. The star-god paid it no mind. He stood solidly in place, his black eyes seeing through the walls and countless chambers between the Emperor and himself.

"He is here" the dragon spoke again, a rasping voice which drove everyone of his victims insane just from the sound of it, several around him suddenly went into spasms, his presence sucking the life from their bodies and turning them to ash "Come to me bastard child of the warp, you will be my first prey"


	65. Awakening the Collegia Titanica

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Awakening the Collegia Titanica**_

"_Warhound zero, one, nine, seven, six, five to all Titan units…to war!"_

_Magi Durin, leading an assault squad of Titans_

_--_

A taskforce of loyalist Mechanicus ships dragged along the orbit of the red planet, far enough away so as not to attract the attention of the Necron vessels scattered across the system. The fleet of three _Mars-class _battlecruisers and a single _Retribution-class _battleship took up positions in low orbit. Dozens of launch tubes on the vessels portside silently opened to the void and with a mass of flashes the contents were released, over a hundred drop pods containing shock squads of Mechanicus troopers and Collegia Titanica crews for the dozens of Titans on the surface. The mission of these squads was to infiltrate the Titanica factories and recover the derelict Titan units.

The drop pods landed on the surface with no incident, no anti-air fire or surface-to-air missile systems streamed up to meet them. There were no signs of fighting on the ground, even though a full regiment of Imperial Guardsmen had been dispatched to secure the facilities. The shock squads exited their pods and entered the factories with no enemy force to meet them. The entire experience was not lost on the loyal warriors of the Mechanicus. Their augmented auspex and visual sensors detected no signs of any enemy contingents. Vox-channels were silent except for the odd blur of static or the monotone voices of Tech-Guard reporting whole sectors as clear throughout the mass factories.

Magi Durin was among the raiding party, protected by a squad of four advanced Tech-Guardsmen. Their faces a mask of bionic implants, large beam and bolter weapons as well as drills and blades replaced arms, every limp augmented by implants to make them stronger and faster. These were known as Sagitarii, heavy weapon specialists armed with the most powerful technological weapons while still keeping their human visages, if only just.

Durin was a large and foreboding individual. A two meter tall man dressed in maroon and black armour. Augmented implants covered his eyes like a pair of amber coloured goggles. A quartet of long cable arms three meters long each fixed with triple claws on their ends were attached to his back, their long snake like forms moving and bending as if they had lives of their own. His left arm, amputated by a Tyranid warrior an age ago, had been replaced by a long pneumatic drill. His left arm had been heavily upgraded for warfare with a retractable power-sword implanted in his forearm and adamantium claws replacing his nails. On his waist were the holstered forms of a pair of bolt pistol with dark red grips and liquid silver barrels, and the sheath of a power-sword. The weapon itself held in his clawed left hand, a dark red hilt and guard attached to a liquid silver blade, pitch black Mechanicus runes running along the flat sides of the weapon.

They entered the main hanger, stalking across walkways held up by steel cables a good kilometre above the main hanger deck. Dozens of Titans lay crouched down within arches below them, clamped and attached to hundreds of power and fuel cables. Not a single one was missing from the lines, not a single one. So the traitors hadn't commandeered the legions of the Collegia Titanica yet.

The vox-officer sent a message through machine noise to the other parties, response noise echoed through the vox, letting them know that the crews were on their way. The Magi waited and before long a companies worth of Sagitarii and Hypaspist light infantry arrived to help him secure the hanger with more troopers arriving all the time.

"Commander" Durin said in a voice lased with mechanical noise "Give the Collegia Titanitica crews the all clear. They may start up the Titan units!"

"Yes Magi" the commander replied with a bow and a whirl of mechanical noise before turning and giving the order to the crews and their guards through the vox ear pieces. Within twenty minutes the crews arrived on the floor, rushing towards the derelict forms of the Titans, enough personnel to pilot and maintain twenty of the sixty machines in the facility. All of the machines were sixteen meter tall Warhound Scout Titans, stooped creatures whose form reminded the Magi of much larger versions of Sentinels except for the arms which were attached to gatling guns and beam cannons.

The peace of the facility was interrupted by the clanging and whirling of mechanics as Tech-Priests and Enginseers began working on the machines, performing tune ups, last minute repairs, anointing the gears with holy water and prayers as the crews entered the cockpits and began activating the engines and weapon systems.

Their was a crack and a green beam of incandescent green light streaked across the hanger and struck the chest cavity of one of the pilots, the beam burned through the grey jumpsuit and set his chest alight in green fire, flesh. Mechanics, veins, organs, bone all melted in the inferno. The pilot fell off the ladder with a mechanical shriek, hitting the ground, ending his pain by breaking his neck as he hit the concrete ground.

A half dozen lasguns opened up upon the Necron warrior who fired the shot, riddling him with las bolts, one took off its head and it flew backwards to the ground. As it died another dozen Necron warriors appeared around it, their eyes and weapons alight with green light as they aimed and fired, burning three Tech-Guards alive before the loyalists found cover and returned fire. By then another twenty Necron warriors had appeared in the hanger, half of them turned their weapons to the Mechanicus troops in the walkways.

Durin and his Tech-Guards took cover as best they could, the magi drawing his bolt pistols from their holsters and firing several shots. When that didn't work he used his augmented mind to activate his three meter long metal limbs. Barrels extended from the ends of the arms as plasma guns came on line. They fired, spraying beams of metal melting plasma down upon the Necrons. Two of the metal creatures were caught in the jets of superheated beams, disintegrating the top halves of their bodies in mere milliseconds of contact.

"Activate the Titans now!" Durin yelled into his vox-piece as another wave of gauss fire flew over their heads.

"Surrender your bodies to the glory of the Necron" a voice bellowed through the hanger, echoing off the walls. Durin used his augmented vision to scan the hanger and found the source. A Tech-Priest draped in liquid silver robes "The Necron promise what we of the Adeptus Mechanicus have strived for since our creation, they promise perfection. Lay down your arms and let our Machine God recreate you in his image!"

The numbers of Necron warriors whittled down to fifteen, and then suddenly shot up to fifty as another wave of warriors appeared out of nothingness. Three Necron Destroyers appeared on their hover platforms, their large gauss cannons firing upon the entrenched Mechanicus troops, incinerating several who were hiding behind empty metal crates.

The Magi growled angrily and using his augmented eyes to target the Tech-Priest fired his plasma cannons, the beams combined and struck the upper body of the traitorous Tech-Priest, he was incinerated within a second, leaving only the waist and legs which crumbled a moment later. With his death the Necron warriors vanished to where they came from, their conduit to this area no longer functioning.

Slowly the Magi got to his feet, deactivating his plasma cannons and allowing his metal limps to wrap around his armoured form. Satisfied that no Necron remained he ordered the pilots to activate their machines. He then jumped off the walkway, reactivating his metal limps as he fell and gave them their orders, immediately the adamantium claws retracted from the ends of the arms and dug into the metal wall of the hanger, leaving tears in the armoured metal as it slowed his descent. His claws remained dug into the metal until he was within ten feet of the ground, retracting the claws he landed in a crouch and, stretching his bionic limps jumped up onto the hull of the Titan who lost its pilot.

As he entered the cockpit he recognised the unforgettable scent a hundred different mechanisms, the scent of holy incense that the Tech-Priests and Enginseers doused the weapons and main gears with, the scent of oils and fuels which covered the machinery, the metallic scent of metal and exhaust smoke as the engines flared. As he came to the cockpit he was greeted by the vessles gunner who was already hooked up to the Titans navigational and auspex systems.

"My lord Magi" the gunner stated, his metallic voice laced with surprise.

"Your pilot is dead, I will be taking command of this Warhound" the Magi stated as he jumped into the pilots chair and allowed the machine spirit to inaugurate him, cables snaked out of a dozen ports and connected themselves to his form. He saw everything. He was looking through the sensors of the beast. He felt his arms move the arms of the Titan. As of this moment he was the Titan, and it was an incredible feeling.

He flexed his muscles and the Warhound Scout Titan rose from its crouch, its Vulcan mega-bolter whirling as heavy bolter shells were loaded, its plasma blastgun hissing as streams of superheated plasma pumped into its barrel. Another twelve Warhounds rose from their places, the cables and wiring which connected them to their arches snapping and breaking away, trailing fluid and fuel as they were severed.

"Warhound zero one nine seven six five to all Titan units" Magi Durin growled into the vox-system "To war!"

--

El'Jonson gripped the sides of his command throne tightly as his command ship was assaulted by another wave of tremors from arc lightning strikes, the void shields had failed in several sections, leaving nothing but the heavy armoured hulls for protection. Another strike of jagged arc lightning struck the prow of a _Cobra-class _destroyer, slicing it into several pieces. A _Lunar-class _cruiser was attempting to limp away from the battle, fire and smoke billowing from several puncture wounds which dotted its heavily armoured hull.

Another wave of arc lightning struck the battlebarge and the lighting on the bridge dimmed considerably before returning to their normal brightness. Outnumbering the enemy a hundred to one they were still getting hammered by the Necron attack ships. Even though the Necron ships had a life expectancy of a dozen seconds before the monolithic defences of the Sol system turned them into burning hulks. They always took a dozen warships and defence platforms with them before they succumbed. Now several gapping holes had opened in the outer defence grids and Necron vessels were trickling through to batter against the second line of even deadlier platforms, space stations and denser packs of warships and fighters.

On the Lions order another wave of geo-nuclear warheads launched from their places on missile and torpedo launchers, appearing as explosions of fire and white smoke. The small squadron of Necron _Jackal _Raiders were caught head on and vanished in the mass explosions.

"Sir were being overrun" one of the sergeants called from the crew section of the bridge "Shields are down, we wont be able to take another shot without taking heavy damage!"

"Captain, were those Alliance tractor beam projectors installed to our ship?" the Lion asked as he surveyed the battlefield, a Tombship was approaching their position, its hull badly damaged by several barrages of weapons fire from the remnants of the first line of defences, but it still looked powerful enough to seriously damage his battlebarge.

"Yes sir, but they weren't properly tested by our Tech-Marines"

"Now is as good a time as any to test them" El'Jonson replied before searching the space ways for something, his eyes lit up when he saw what he were looking for, the dead hulk of a Harvest ship "Lock on, grab that dead harvest ship. Pull it between us and the Tomb!"

"Sir?"

"Do it now Captain!"

"Yes Primarch"

The Tombships weapon emplacements were already lighting up their fearsome green as they prepared to fire a full bombardment upon the _Angel of Retribution_. At the same time the battlebarges newly installed tractor beams latched onto the dead harvester and pulled it, it came between the two just as the Tombship launched its full attack. Masses of deadly green arc lightning struck the harvest ship and turned it from a dead hulk to a mass of debris. It was then that the _Retribution _released her next wave of geo-nuclear and krak torpedoes.

The damaged Tombship took the brunt of the assault, followed up by a barrage of lance and turbolance batteries, pounding the living metal and creating several large burning crevices. Internal explosions dotted the Tombships hull alongside the burning red gashes and mushroom shaped clouds. As it broke away it began to break apart from the assault.

"Keep hitting it until your sure its dead" the Lion roared.

--

The Emperor cut a diagonal line down the body of another Necron and watched as the metal creature fell into two pieces at his feet. He spun, his blade swinging and cutting another Necron in two by his thin waist. Again he spun, gathering a small mass of power into his sword and swung it, a powerful blast of warp energy struck out, a beam of golden light which incinerated another twenty Necron in a single swing. He swung again, releasing another blast of light which destroyed another twelve.

All who remained standing was the Necron lord, its staff lying on the ground at its feet and its arms crossed over his metal face, its forearms, abdomen and legs glowing red and bubbling from the heat and radiation of the warp blast. The Emperor vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing behind the lord and plunging his power-sword through its back and exiting through the chest cavity, he then jumped, dragging the embedded blade up through the lords back, neck and finally head, cleaving the upper half of its body in two.

The Necron warriors didn't vanish this time, they were too far into the enemy stronghold for that to happen. More Necron were appearing down the tunnel and through the walls, and the Custodian Guards were firing continuously. They were already down to half ammunition. Their power-swords were chipped and dulled from continuous melee combat.

Raising his sword the Emperor continued his advance, cutting into the Necron warriors as they came at him one at a time. He raised his storm bolter and released a five second salvo into the mass of flailing metal corpses, blasting craters and holes into at least five bodies. He let the expended clip fall, telekinetically lifted another from one of his ammunition satchels, guided it into position and slammed it into the loader. He chambered a new round and pulled the trigger.

Kilometres away in his layer the Void-Dragon watched with fascination as the Emperor approached his position. His warriors were slowly dwindling in number thanks to the continuous, unending army of his servants advanced on his domain. He needed to separate the Emperor from his subordinates. He wanted to face him without interruption. With a wave of his hand he activated the oldest and most deadly of his metallic servants. Warriors the size of the humans dreaded Space Marines, their metal skeletons so old that they no longer had their shine, large, powerful Gauss blasters held in their arms. He awakened his Necron Immortals, led by his own Pariah elites. They would deal with the Emperors Custodes while he led their leader to him.

The Emperor didn't notice the activated trap until the doors opened beneath him and he fell into the abyss. To his guards it was like he had simply vanished from sight. He could have stopped his descent, could have allowed himself to levitate back up to the surface. But he didn't, he let gravity take him down, he knew that this would take him straight to the demons layer.

"Emperor" Captain Lathorise shouted and charged forward, his blade slicing through the gauss cannon of a Necron warrior and then, changing the direction of the blade cut off its head. It was then that he came to the trap door "My lord, are you alright!!"

_I am fine Captain_

"Hang on my lord" Lathorise called "We'll come and get you!!"

_No, gather the Custodes and fight your way to the surface, regroup_

"But-"

_Regroup!_

With that the Emperor severed his psychic connection with the Custodian and, levelling his body out freefell into the abyss towards a Star-god who wanted to kill him and who he wanted to kill in turn. He landed on the ground as if he just jumped a meter and walked through a chamber devoid of all light. Dozens of sets of lifeless, green orbs glared at him, Necron Lords, Pariahs and Immortals all starring at him silently, under strict orders from their master not to touch the being walking through their domain.

The only noise was the echoes of the Emperors footsteps as he traversed the underground cavern, ignoring the bodies of Necron who were embedded into the walls and ceiling, all starring at him with those green lights for eyes. He came to a set of double doors, seemingly made of the same shining metal the Necron and their war machines were made of. With no effort he held out his hands and pushed the doors open, revealing the chamber beyond. In the centre of the chamber, raised from the floor by a platform was the liquid black throne of the Void-Dragon, and the monster itself sitting upon it.

He was a creature of formidable appearance. Standing a good three meters tall his entire form was encased in glimmering armour of liquid silver, long black claws retracted from its hands and feet, with a long whip like tail, a set of dragon shaped wings which uncoiled from around his body and stretched out, five meters long each and encased in a thin liquid metal armour similar to that which covered his body. An armoured helm with a crown of half meter long, thin blades at the top and a mask of pitch black, crafted to look like an ancient and deadly demon starred at the Emperor.

At that moment the Emperor felt frailer than he ever did when he was encased in the golden throne. It was as if someone had cut off his arms and legs. As if a door had been closed and locked, denying him access. The warp had been taken away from him, it was gone.

Silently, slowly the Dragon raised a hand, covered in a liquid metal skin with long claws. He pointed to the Emperor, like a reaper who came for the souls of the dying. It spoke, only instead of using words it spoke psychically into the God-Emperors mind, a rasping whisper full of malice and hatred.

_Die!_


	66. The Dragon uncoils, the Emperor protects

_**Chapter 4**_

_**The Dragon Uncoils, the Emperor Protects**_

_Die!!_

That one word struck the Emperor like a hurricane wind. The monster spoke it with such conviction, such passion, and such hate that it made him feel a chill. Then he was gone, vanishing from his throne in a blur, reappearing in front of him and delivering a punch to his sternum which would have turned a normal man to mush. The Emperor was thrown back from the impact, hitting against the double doors. There was a shriek of tearing metal as the doors gave way and the demigod skidded off the floor several meters into the chamber beyond.

None of the Necron within the chamber moved from their places on the walls, they just watched as their lord and master stalked with a purpose into the hall. He held out his hand and a shape began to take form, obscured by a black mist which wasn't of the warp, wasn't of the force, wasn't of anything. It took the form of a war scythe, a massive rod of liquid black spanning three meters tall with a long curved blade at its end. The dragon grabbed hold of the recently forged weapon and swung it with enough force to send a Baneblade flying.

The Emperor moved quickly, drawing his power-sword from its sheath and deflecting the scythe as it came down, but the force behind the swing sent him skidding sideways several feet. The Void-Dragon didn't hesitate. Lifting the long weapon over his head and bringing it down to earth with a mechanical roar, culminating in a blast of green energy which erupted from the blade and drove through the ground, leaving a crevice in its wake. Unable to summon the warp to deflect it the Emperor jumped out of the way and watched as it stormed across the earth and impacted against the far wall, this simply gave way, leaving a massive hole in the metal.

The Emperor no longer had the warp to call upon, but he still had his strength, speed and mind. He vanished in a blur, reappearing behind the machine deity and swinging his sword with all his might. The dragon turned and grabbed the swords blade with his free hand. He leisurely leaned his scythe against his right shoulder and watched as the Emperor pulled the blade from the dragon's grasp, culminating with a shriek as the blade rubbed against the liquid metal skin.

This wasn't the same Void-Dragon that the Master fought against, he was much stronger now. In fact he considered that the Master wouldn't last five minutes against the Dragon at full power, which he obviously was now. With a swift motion the C'tan delivered an uppercut, sending the Emperor flying high and smashing through the concrete roof into the cavern beyond. He entered an ancient store, where dozens of Lemon Russ and Demolisher battletanks lay in lines, each one so heavily modified with new weapons and defences that they were unrecognisable.

The star-god followed at a leisurely pace, jumping onto the floor and walking towards the Emperor, his scythe still leaning against his shoulder. The C'tan looked at a Lemon Russ whose turret had been replaced by a double barrelled main gun and sent it flying towards the leader of the Imperium. The tank hit off the turret of a Demolisher and started spinning, smacking off the ground, bits and pieces of its form breaking off and flying in different directions. The Emperor didn't move, he spread his legs and waited. As the tank was about to crush him he grabbed it with his hands, stopping its descent. He took a deep breath, lifted it up and threw it back at the C'tan, who simply backhanded it and sent it flying on top of another Lemon Russ with an explosion of metal and fire as their munitions stores sparked and exploded.

The Dragon flew at the Emperor, who grabbed his sword and blocked the scythe as it came down. The power behind the strike was so great that the Emperor was driven back, skidding with incredible speed as the dragon pushed him several hundred meters in a few seconds. The back wall was getting closer now and the Emperor saw no way to stop it, he braced himself and went straight through the partition with a crack which would have turned a normal man, even a Primarch to a bloody pancake.

When he looked up the Dragon was gone, and he skidded to a halt ten meters into the new chamber. An old room which was lined with hybrid weapons from lasguns, to plasma rifles to bolters. Before he knew it a fist of living metal struck his cheek, he heard a crack of bone before the force of the impact threw him through the air, smashing through two walls and a ceiling before landing in a bed of rock and debris. The Dragon followed, floating through the hole and hovering towards the Emperor a few inches of the floor.

_One strike will finish it!_

Besides himself the Emperor began to chuckle, a throaty whimper that slowly turned into a bellowing laugh as he used his sword to support him to his feet. He turned and studied the Void-Dragon who was just starring at him, its head tilted and its long poled war scythe leaning against its shoulders.

_Why do you laugh?_

"Is that all" the Emperor asked "I heard so much about you, most powerful of the C'tan Star-Gods, a being that the Dark Gods of Chaos fear, possibly even more than me. Is this all!!"

The Dragon howled with rage and in a blur vanished from sight, reappearing behind the Emperor and swinging his scythe in a decapitating blow. The Emperor spun to face him, a move so fast that he was a blur, one millisecond his back was turned, the next he was facing the Star-God, his hand flying up with unmatched speed and grabbing the bladed end of the scythe. The power behind the blow was enough to send a hurricane gale across the chamber and yet the Emperor didn't move an inch. Once the gale subsided the Emperor grinned and tightened his grip around the blade, a crack appeared on the flawless, considered indestructible liquid metal before shattering altogether.

As the shards of the Void-Dragons liquid metal scythe flew the Emperor stabbed out with his sword, slashing into one of the Star-gods blade like wings and severing it from the main body. The Dragon flew backwards, releasing a deafening mechanical screech of pain and anger as he looked down at his fidgeting metallic wing. The Emperor took that moment to charge the star-god, pulling back his gauntleted fist and letting it fly forward, striking the void dragon square in the nose. There was a crack as its superior liquid armour fractured under the force of the blow before it was thrown back, impacting and breaking through the wall behind him, then the next, and the next before settling against the fourth, leaving a great crater behind him.

There was a blur and the Emperor appeared before him, stabbing out with his sword. Desperately the star-god grabbed the blade with his free hand and watched as the metal screeched and tore across the armoured palm. He hissed and kicked out with his left foot, impacting against the Emperors left side, and then he repeated the move with his right foot. Stunned the immortal staggered back before being struck by a blast of pure gauss lightning which threw him through the holes the void-dragon left.

Given his chance the dragon levitated to the ground, looked at the stomp where his wing once was and waited, there was an explosion of gore as a new wing swept out, slowly being covered by scales of liquid silver. It stretched out before folding across his body. His regeneration complete he whispered an ancient incantation, a single psychic word.

_Muerte!_

A black mist appeared around his hand, slowly taking on the shape of a sword. Black wrappings covered the hilt with a silver guard, the blade shimmered from the liquid silver it was made from and ancient black hieroglyphs were lined down the flat sides. The Emperor couldn't tell what they meant but they reeked of the same power that the star-god exerted.

_Muerte, an ancient sword made from the core of the Necrontyr sun. Rejoice god-emperor for you are the third to ever see it._

"What an honour" the emperor replied, his voice laced with sarcasm before he rose to his feet, grabbed his sword and flew forward. The two blades met, flashing gold and green as they struck. The emperor disengaged and spun, swinging his power sword with enough force to crack open the shell of a battle tank. The C'tan intercepted and lashed out with his right leg, striking the Emperor in the midsection and sending him flying twenty meters into the air. As he flew the dragon reappeared below him and changed his trajectory with a stiff strike with the hilt of his sword.

The Emperor flew upwards, blasting through every ceiling before striking the bedrock between the ancient catacombs and the surface of the red planet. As he was about to fall the dragon came up to meet him and struck him in the chest with the tip of his sword, the blade pierced through his golden armour, then through his shoulder. The two hit the rock and broke through it too the surface.

--

Lathorise fired off his last few rounds from his guardian spear, putting several shots into the nearest three Necron warriors before it clicked empty. He allowed the empty ammo clip to fall before reaching into his satchel for another, only to find it empty, he was out. Instinct took over as the first wave came ever closer. His men were standing beside him, some still firing their last remaining clips into the Necron horde, others were fighting with the blades of their spears, or with power-swords.

Growling the Captain dropped his spear, drawing a pair of bolt-pistols from his waist and fired several rounds, one hit a warrior in the face, another went spinning in midair as a round smacked and destroyed its leg. Still they came, gauss cannons firing, his men dying. He kept firing until his guns clicked empty, slamming fresh clips into them and started firing again. Green blades of gauss fire streaked all around him, he smelt the burning ozone, the rancid stench of the beams, the sickening smell of melting power armour and burning flesh. He heard the screams of his men as they lay there dying, flailed alive.

It wasn't just normal warriors they were facing. Squads of Immortals were forcing their way through the ranks of weaker machines, armed with heavy gauss cannons and easily the same size as a Space Marine. Arkon roared at the monsters, and dropping his empty pistols drew his last weapon, his power-sword. He thumbed the activation switch and listened as the blade hummed to life before charging towards the Immortal, ignoring the gauss fire that spilt forth from all around him.

A little further down the last operational dreadnought was firing from its heavy stormbolter, its other arm which held duel plasma cannons had been seared off by a heavy gauss blast. Several moments later another blast erupted off its chest, tearing through to the crippled Custodian underneath. The dreadnought flailed before going limp on its feet, its stormbolter continued to click for several moments before finally going silent. It was a terrible omen.

They were surrounded, the last survivors were surrounded. Necron in front of them, Necron behind them, Necron coming from the walls, the ceiling and the ground. It was any mans nightmare. To be surrounded by enemies, with nowhere to retreat too.

"For the Imperium, for the Custodes, for the Emperor!!" he screamed as he charged, his blade held out, ready to stab into the first body of metal it touched. The last few dozen Custodes heard their leaders cry and drew their own power swords, this unit of Custodes may die this day, but by the Emperor they'd take as many of the undead machines with them as they could.

The Captain's blade pierced the protective shell of one of the Immortals and with a mighty roar of exertion he pushed it upward, cutting up the abdomen and through its head. He then turned and cut off the head of a warrior, slashed an arm of another, took the legs from another, punching through another's metallic mask with his power fist.

He continued to fight until he could fight no more, and by the time he fell the massacred, twisted corpses of dozens of warriors and immortals were all around him. His own body had taken several gauss hits and he could smell the stench as his flesh burned, but he didn't care. The dead were all around him, his friends, his brothers, his family, all two hundred Custodians who followed the Emperor into this hell were dead. And not a single one of them regretted it.

Arkon Lathorise, Custodian, Captain, soldier, died on the field of battle, on his feet with his head held high, a smile on his face.

--

The Necron were spread out before him, a sea of silver on the otherwise crimson surface. Magi Durin aimed and pulled the trigger for the Vulcan mega-bolter, spraying vast streaks of bolter fire upon the Necron, blowing dozens apart. His contingent of Warhound Scout Titans opened up with their own Vulcan mega-bolters and plasma blastguns. But the barrage did little to slow the advance. Unlike living, breathing individuals who would dive for cover the Necron didn't flinch, they continued their advance, seemingly uncaring for the deadly las and heavy weapons fire arrayed against them by over a hundred thousand warriors of the Imperium.

The situation in space was slowly getting worse, at the beginning any Necron vessel who appeared in the defence grid were quickly destroyed by the formidable orbital defences of the Sol systems many habitable planets. But no matter how many Necron ships they destroyed more took their place. Now reports said that there were over three hundred Necron capital-ships in the system with hundreds of escorts, and they were slowly picking the defences apart. A quarter of the outer planetary defences had been destroyed by an outer attack force of five hundred heavy capital-ships and over two thousand escorts, with millions of fighters and gunships creating havoc in the Imperial defensive lines. It was like the entire Necron fleet had converged on the Sol system, and what was worse, they were still coming.

The two sides clashed. A sea of silver smashing against an opposite ocean of green, the two sides stayed that way for several minutes before the Necrons advanced again, over the columns of Imperial Guard who suddenly began a tactical withdrawal to the recently finished trench and gun positions who were just opening fire.

Behind the line of Titans were the landing fields where dozens of troop transports were landing, releasing more regiments of Imperial Guard, more companies of Space Marines along with contingents of loyal Mechanicus troops, battlesisters, Inquisition storm troopers, tanks, walkers, bikes and armoured transports. At the feet of the war titans were units of Imperial Fists, dressed in their yellow power armour, Ultramarines in their blue and Custodian Guard in shimmering gold, all rushing to the front line.

"Warhound one to Warhound group" the Magi spoke into the squadron vox "Prep strategic weapons on my mark!"

The shoulders of the Warhounds popped open, revealing small missile launchers capable of holding two high yield frag, plasma and mini-nuclear missiles in each. On the orders of the Magi they fired, the missiles leaving trails of jet smoke as they launched. They soared above the mass of Necron warriors and destroyers before streaking down, a firestorm of deadly projectiles, and the resulting explosions creating mushroom shaped clouds.

The Titans held firm as the shockwaves from the strikes hit them. As the blasts began to subside Magi Durin placed a shaking hand on his face. How many forgotten relics had he destroyed? How many pieces of lost technology which would have been used for the betterment and survival of humanity had he destroyed with that strike?

A beam of plasma struck one of the Titans, resulting in its cockpit exploding and its broken form falling too the ground. The full squadron swung around to see the new threat. A unit of five Reaver battle Titians approached, humanoid forms with massive missile launchers on their backs, armed with heavy plasma blastguns, Vulcan mega-bolters and rail-guns. At their feet were columns of silver cloaked Mechanicus troops.

"Reavers" Durin whispered in despair "All Titan squadrons report to the ridge immediately, heavy Titan force inbound. First squadron, all weapons open fire, fire at will, fire at will!!"

As the Titans fired the Magi noticed the stream of Space Marines and Custodes had rushed in and set up defensive positions at his unit's feet, setting up heavy bolter positions and deploying in squads. The deep crackle of bolters could already be heard among the heavy weapons fire and miniature earthquakes that the Titans were making with their feet. Space Marines from two founding chapters and a detachment of the Emperors own guard against Mechanicus troops, the enemy stood no chance.

--

The heavy concrete ground gave way with a crack and a heave, before an explosion of shrapnel christened the arrival of the Emperor and his opponent. The immortal flew into the air, heaving up blood as he hit the ground. They had exited the subterranean underground right in the middle of the main battle. All around them were battalions of Imperial Guards exchanging fire with hordes of Necron warriors, the ground was littered with dead guardsmen or the sparking remains of Necron, weapons from lasguns to gauss rifles were strewn everywhere alongside the odd corpse of a battle tank or a destroyer.

Quickly the star-god jumped high into the air, his sword pointed down to the surface. He flew down, the blade puncturing the soil, releasing a deadly shockwave of power. A hurricane wind of energy threw all beings be they Necron, human or vehicle away, it was like a nuclear bomb had gone off and by the time the dust cleared only the dragon and the emperor were left standing.

The star-god floated back to the ground, expertly slicing the air with his sword, as if practising how to end his rival once and for all. Grabbing his own weapon for support the Emperor dragged himself to his feet, trying to ignore the blood streaming across his armour from stab wound. As the dragon came within range the emperor swung his sword, the dragon ducked and cut upwards, which the emperor quickly sidestepped. He cut down with his last good arm, slicing into the concrete where the dragon once stood.

The star-god jumped high, performed a backward summersault before landing in a crouch. Launching himself from his position the dragon surged forward, blade poised and ready to taste its preys flesh once again. The Emperor brought up his sword and the two blades meet, the dragons Muerte scrapped against the Emperor's sacred blade as he deflected it, bringing him face to face with the god-emperor. With a roar the Emperor brought his free power fist back and punched the dragon full power in the chest, sending the monster flying back and straight through the thick walls of a forge spire.

With a wordless war cry the emperor charged through the hole, and was immediately assaulted by the dragon's fist to his face, sending him spinning through the air but not hitting the ground. As the emperor was hanging in midair the dragon grabbed his legs and began to spin around. Faster and faster until he was a blur, and with a metallic screech threw him back out the hole up into the air. He flew up nearly three hundred meters into the sky before the dragon reappeared beside him and swung his blade. The emperor quickly shifted his position, missing the blades first swing and bringing his sword down to protect himself from the second. The force behind the blast sent him flying away again. He smacked off the ground like a stone dancing across the still water of a lake, bouncing five times before landing on the ground in a heap. Slowly he rose to his feet only to be met by the void-dragons blade, which pierced his abdomen, exiting from his back in an explosion of living metal and blood. The immortal emperor gasped, spitting up blood as he did so.

_You are the first_

He forced his head to rise to meet the bladed helmet of the dragon, if he didn't know better he'd say that the there was mirth in the monsters psychic voice.

_I will destroy you, then your empire, then the galaxy. I will take my revenge on the Deceiver and the Nightbringer for turning against me, on the Eldar war god Kharne for imprisoning me! I will return this galaxy to an era of death and extinction!_

The emperors powers waned, his physical body weakened to the point that he could barely carry the weight of his sword. He still felt the pain as the dragon withdrew the blade from his abdomen, causing another explosion of gore and blood. The emperor fell to a knee, all his physical strength leaving him. In one last desperate strike the emperor swung out with his power sword, only for it to be caught by the void-dragons free claw, he squeezed his hand and the blade shattered with a metallic crack. The emperor could only look down at the broken blade. Then everything started to go dark.

_Now die!_

Just as he lost consciousness he felt a spark, then a fire burn within him, he welcomed it as it filled his body, giving strength to his exhausted and beaten muscles, it brought him back once more from death. The warp flared greater than ever before and with this sudden increase came words. Not the taunting, rasping voices of daemons and demi-gods but a silky, warm, loving voice, the voice of a mother cooing a child, a voice that the emperor heard only once before.

_Don't give in!_

At that moment in his subconscious a being of blinding golden light appeared before him, its hand outstretched, beckoning him to take it. He felt no trick, no Chaos god trying to ensnare him, just a warmth and power which was so pure that he doubted that it could ever be the warp, yet it was. Cautiously he stretched out and took the slender hand in his own.

A gauntleted arm reached out with blurring speed and grabbed the black blade before it pierced his chest, the star-god looked on, surprised and startled at the sudden strength from a dying man. Then he felt it, the warp returned, as if bypassing his own immunity to it, it soared to heights of power greater than he ever felt before.

"I wont let you win" the emperor stated as his head rose to match the dragons stare, his eyes glowing sapphire blue as he spoke "There are many beings of great power in this galaxy, but also those of unspeakable evil. It will be me who defeats them!"

Suddenly the emperor lashed out with his left power-fist, catching the dragon in the jaw and sent him staggering back, dropping his sword. The emperor followed up with a right hook which sent the dragon staggering to the left, each punch so unnaturally strong that it sent shockwaves flying in all directions.

"I will beat Khorne" the emperor roared as he followed up with a right fist to his opponents face.

"Nurgle!"

A straight punch to his nose

"Slaanesh!"

A thundering left hook

"Tzeentch!"

A lethal uppercut

"Shingai!"

Right hook

"Deceiver!"

Left hook

"Nightbringer!"

The next punch smacked the dragon in the nose, the impact blossomed by a powerful beam of pure warp energy that shinned gold, the power behind the blast threw the dragon back, this time he was bouncing like a stone. Looking down at the black bladed weapon the emperor picked it up and charged after the star-god at such a speed that it left a trail of crimson dust in his wake.

"And I will start with you, void-dragon!!"

In the space of a heartbeat the blade pierced through the dragon's chest, and a great mechanical cry could be heard echoing through the very core of the red planet.


	67. Fall of a God

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Fall of a God**_

"Amazing" the Fabricator General exclaimed joyously as he went through the data cores, going over structural schematics, weapons systems, engine systems, sensors, communication. One by one the main systems sprang to life as his Tech-priests reactivated the power systems which had lain dormant for nearly ten millennia. It had been hard, gruelling and more than once the former high lord considered that getting this starship fully operational in the allotted time was impossible.

But they had succeeded, the ships systems were fully operational, the machine spirit stirred to life in the controls, whose runes lit up in a menagerie of colours. The bridge came to life as main power was restored, heaters blurred, lights flickered to life, cooling systems sputtered like an infant trying to take its first breath in the outside world.

At the moment the Fabricator sat on a raised chair in the middle of the main control console, a large storey high curved system which showed him everything. His augmented eyes flashed as an impossible amount of information streamed across his vision.

Main weapons: online

Secondary weapons: online

Void shields: online

Hull armour: sealed and polarised

Life support: online

Communications: online

Sublight engines: cold starting

Warp drives: offline

Status…………green

Launch sequence initiated

"Open your eyes child" the Fabricator mumbled, his beard-like cables ejecting from the sockets which decorated the main control console, his hands moving so fast across the keyboards that they were blurs of colour to a normal humans vision "Open your eyes and take your first look at a new world"

--

For most of the battle the fleet had remained dark, its ships were operating at minimum power in the hope that the enemy would not notice them until the engines of their senior capital-ships were ready. Thankfully the Necron were to preoccupied with the vast defence fleets of Terra, they did not see them.

Suddenly the running lights of the heavy warships came to life in what seemed like an explosion, docking clamps released the main warships, allowing them to drift for a few moments before the mammoth engines came to life in an explosion of unnatural fire. The fleet of Admiral Xavier Winters was free, and not a moment too soon.

In unison the two _Armageddon's_, six _Firestorms _and twelve _Cobras _opened up with every weapon, striking and destroying three unsuspecting Necron raiders and a harvester. The fleet moved through the flaming debris like ghosts in the darkness, remaining silent until all their main batteries were reloaded before firing again. Destroying another four raiders and causing mild damage to an accursed tombship.

From the vantage point of his command throne admiral Winters watched as the surprised Necron taskforce attempted to turn around to face the new threat. Losing a quarter of their number as the monumental space defences of Terra locked onto them and cut lose with enough firepower to reduce a planet to a dead orb.

Something seemed wrong. The Necron weren't moving like they were at the beginning of the battle. They seemed sluggish to their guns, no longer moving in unison, in fact several of their smaller ships were beginning to vanish in their version of faster than light travel. It reminded the admiral of what would happen to a conventional army if it lost its command, it reminded him of a route, a panic.

Something that the Necron never seemed to have a problem with

The defence fleets seemed more determined than he had ever seen, they acted with perfect accuracy, near fanatical determination. They charged the undead ships, seemingly uncaring for their own survival. He understood why. They were not fighting on a far flung colony. They weren't fighting for a sector or provincial capital. They were fighting in the Sol system, the cradle of humanity, the throne of the Imperium, where the holy world of Terra resided.

Not since the Horus Heresy when the traitor Warmaster and his vast legions launched a full assault on the homeworld had he ever heard of such a battle as this. Reports flooded across the communication channels, spoke of the Emperor, alive and healthy battling against an unknown entity on Mars, of a massive battle taking place on the holy planets soil, of Primarch Lion El'Jonson leading the united forces of Terra against the monstrosities.

Then another surprise flooded through the long range vox-channels, a fleet of Battlebarges and strike cruisers had appeared in the thick of the fighting. The colours and emblems which decorated the hulls only meant one thing. The Ultramarines and their Primarch had arrived.

--

The dragon howled in agony as his very own weapon was plunged into his chest, the very noise was deafening to the ears of anyone on the planet. Within fifty kilometres the liquid sea of Necron war machines exploded under the psychic onslaught while the legions of humans who were fighting them all fell to their knees, blood pouring from ears, eyes and noses.

Then the star-god fell to his knees, at that moment the Emperor thought it was all over. He couldn't have been more wrong, for a clawed hand grabbed the blade of the sword. The dragon forced himself to his feet, his rage almost palpable in the surrounding air.

_No, I will not be beaten by you!!_

The star-gods free hand began to change shape from a metal wrapped claw to a long curved blade, he swung the newly forged weapon, cutting into the emperor's side and forcing him to jump away. Not losing his grip on the ancient Necron sword the child of humanity pulled it from the demons chest with a teeth grinding scrape. This creature's whole body seemed to be a weapon.

With a roar the dragon forced his hand to return to its clawed form. Then he set to work, gathering a mass of energy from across the planet, sucking the energies of every Necron warrior dry. Across the red landscape, through the cities and streets every Necron warrior suddenly came to a halt and vanished like an army of wraths that had served their purpose. The star-god didn't care anymore. He just wanted to kill him, to rend his body limb from limb.

A ball of green energy appeared above him, tendrils of emerald swirling around it like a miniature galaxy. The Emperor felt the power. There was enough to crack the crust of the planet, to break it in half like an egg. Quickly he dropped the dragon's sword and summoned the monumental power that the warp had, gathering it from every corner he could find, he slammed his hands together and a small light appeared within, shining through his fingers and palms. Slowly he opened his hands, drawing on more power, making the single light become a ball of condensed warp energy.

"I will stop you" the Emperor said through gritted teeth, a fresh sheen of sweat covering his face from the amount of power he was taking in. The dragon did not answer, he simply roared in anger, by now the swirling corrupt energy could be seen from space. The millions of soldiers aboard the Imperium's mighty warships and defences stopped what they were doing to look upon it with fear.

Both roared as they released their powers upon each other, and green tendrils slammed against a barrier of brilliant golden light.

--

No one expected it when the Tombships appeared over the ancient world of Terra itself, even when several dozen defence platforms turned into incandescent flares of light, even when one of the central space stations suffered several explosions and immediately started to fall from orbit towards the city world's surface.

But the defences of the homeworld recovered quickly, and thousands of deadly lances of energy struck the Necron vessels. A full half of the Tombships took the brunt of the attack and were systematically destroyed but the last five took what little time they had and fired upon the city covering world, blasting areas of land fifty kilometres in diameter, christened by large mushroom shaped clouds.

Skyscrapers fell, millions of lives were lost and every psyker in the galaxy could hear the psychic ripples, from the Farseers of the nomadic Craftworlds, the traitors of Chaos, even the forcelings of the Corusca galaxy felt the psychic death screams.

Back above orbit the imperial defenders went from desperate defence to a near insane rage, men and women screamed in anger until they went hoarse. The defence platforms came around and fired with more ferocity than ever before, they continued firing upon the Necron until gun barrels went red from overheating. One Tombship remained and it was even now entering the atmosphere of the world, weapon banks spewing torrents of green lightning upon Terra.

Anti-air defences came alive in the form of flak cannons, AA guns and surface-to-air missile positions spewing up clouds of missiles and lines of tracer fire. Aerofighters launched in the hundreds from airfields and sped towards the Necron capital-ship, passing by the aftermath of the orbital bombardment in the form of mushroom shaped clouds which reached up to three thousand feet and a landscape which looked more like one of a hundred worlds on the fringes of the empire.

Then the Tombship loomed before them, an unwelcome sight on the polluted skyline of Terra, its main weapons were releasing torrents of energy upon the surface, silencing aerial positions and bringing down buildings. In fury and hatred they dived towards the enemy, forgetting about the deadly defence fire of the capital-ship and the defensive fighters which were launching from the Necron vessels scarred and charred hull.

When the pilots entered the fight they knew they could get no help from the orbital forces without the throne-world suffering catastrophic and possibly irreparable damage. The orbital defences however helped by sending every fighter and bomber they possibly could, as well as a few frigates and corvettes, every heavy capital-ship in the Terran fleet had been rerouted to meet the main Necron fleets in the outer system.

Far below on the surface something was stirring, a massive hidden pair of doors covering nearly fifty kilometres of wrecked land was sliding open, the ruins of buildings finally giving in and falling. When the massive doors finished their opening the darkness within came alive with running lights as the behemoth within started to rise to the surface.

And within the structure of this monster the Fabricator General looked upon the ruins and felt his blood boil, unbeknownst to himself he screamed out into the bridge, his voice like a metallic thunder. They would not get away with this. He would hunt them down to the ends of the galaxy. He saw the Tombship on the horizon and ordered this ancient warship to advance.

To those men who were watching the surface they thought their eyes were deceiving them, a massive ship similar in design to a Battlebarge yet almost twice the size at forty kilometres long with bank after bank of lance batteries, plasma cannons, rail guns, and missile and torpedo launchers. Its hull was gold with black and red engravings. The double headed black eagle of the Imperium was etched into its sides prominently with the name of the ship engraved proudly into its hull.

The _Imperious_

The Terran people watched from the surface of their world as the _Imperious _flew over their heads and cheered when she fired upon the Necron Tombship, hundreds of lance batteries opened up in unison. Within moments the Necron tombship turned into a flare of incandescent light.

"Begin to rise and exit the holy world" the General ordered sharply "The Necron will be destroyed!"

--

When the two monumental powers met the entire planet creaked and moaned from the power released. The land within a hundred kilometres of point zero was completely obliterated by a shockwave of fused energies which levelled the ruins. But within a moment the victor of this was clear.

The spear of golden light pierced through the dragon's green writhing mass of energy and struck the star-god in the shoulder, a long lance which refused to extinguish itself. The power behind it threw the C'tan back through a still standing skyscraper, causing the ruins to collapse around him, burying him in several tons of debris.

This didn't keep him for long, an explosion of incandescent green flame and debris sent the rubble flying in every direction. The emperor didn't care, he just advanced, ignoring the rubble and debris which slammed against him, anything bigger than himself he slapped away with blurring speed. Then he was in front of the opposing creature and sent him flying with a bone crushing uppercut.

He felt it, the emperor of humanity felt the death screams of millions of lives from Terra, the cradle of humanity, his own home. He felt it all through the warp. Saw the droves of daemons attracted to it like moths to a flame. But one exertion of his growing power sent them scattering like scarred rabbits. He would completely destroy the star-god Void Dragon and lay waist to all that he stood for. He swore this on the souls of all those slaughtered this day.

The Void Dragon would die.

His legacy and armies would disappear.

And be forgotten.

The mighty Necron would be hunted and utterly destroyed, their liquid silver armour turned to ash, every last Tomb-world would be virus bombed into the dust.

He continued, his stride never faltering until he came across the form of the Void Dragon, on a knee, trying desperately to regain his feet. With one mammoth hand he lifted the star-god up by his armoured collar and called all of the destructive power of the warp which he possibly could.

The star-gods powers held for but a few seconds, then they were both consumed by a great fire of warp energy. So powerful that the Chaos gods themselves sensed this and shied away, for it also came with a message for them. They weren't the masters of the warp anymore, he was.

The raw fire burned away the dragon's indestructible liquid armour, fluid burst forth and was just as quickly turned from liquid to gas, his wings just disappeared and the dragon turned from a creature of metal to one of metallic bones. Then with one last metallic scream that could be heard across the universe he vanished in a whiff of black mist.

The emperor saw the creature's soul, a humanoid being in rotting black robes, a pair of black leather wings stretching out in a width of twenty meters, through the darkness of its covered face it looked upon him with feral, hate filled eyes. Then the fires of the emperor's power fell upon him and his spirit was burned from the universe, his last great metallic scream a final testament to his existence as one of the great destroyers of civilisation.

The fires which the emperor released could be seen from space as a great lance of power which swept forth from the planet's surface and disappeared into the distance. And once it began to cease every surviving Necron vessel, from the small packs across the inner system to the vast armadas which assaulted the outer defences, all of them vanished into nothing. The last armies battling on the habitable worlds of the Sol system also vanished from sight. Entire valleys once full of the monstrous cyborgs became eerie and silent as they vanished like wraiths.

On the bridges of their command ships Lion El'Jonson and Roboute Guilliman could only look upon the empty space which was once the terrifying Necron invasion. The Fabricator General, the High Lords, every admiral and general could only look upon the empty arenas which just moments ago were the sites of monolithic battles.

On Mars the Emperor took a deep breath and sat upon a large chunk of debris, closed his eyes and looked up to the heavens.

It was over, it was all over.


	68. Epilogue

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Epilogue**_

Great explosions illuminated the night sky in a multitude of colours. Spot lights exploded forth from the ramparts of the Imperial palace in their thousands, reaching up and hitting off the dull hulls of hundreds of starships. On the ground millions of human forms surrounded the palace, dancing and laughing in the twilight.

Besides the death and destruction visited upon them by the Necron a month ago the people were joyous, they had been celebrating ever since news of the Emperors return. This celebration did not just take place in the Sol system, every inhabited system of the inner planets had heard the news, and across the galaxy people were rejoicing. But for the outer systems it would be months, possibly years before this news reached them, still the celebrations would begin anew.

Crowds of people covered the courtyards and plazas of the palace, drunk in celebration of their resurrected leader. Bands played ancient ballads written by great artists of the Imperium. Stalls were erected to provide the celebrating masses with food and drink. Fireworks of untold number dotted the darkening sky with flashes of multicoloured light. In orbit cruisers and other capital-ships were firing their main guns in salute for the Emperor and his Primarchs.

The Emperor was too busy for such celebration. In many ways he did not expect such a welcome. He had never viewed himself as a god. He had often tried to dispel such references in the years leading up to the Great Crusade. But it was while imprisoned in the golden throne that he made a very real assumption. Humanity needed something to believe in. They needed to believe in a power higher than themselves. If they did not, then humanity would have died out long ago through self destruction.

The Emperor accepted this, but it didn't have to mean that he liked it. He was no god. He had never viewed himself as such. A god was a being who created life, a being that would blink and a million years would go by. A god would be a being who could wipe out the Chaos gods, the C'tan, the Tyranids, even the Sith in a single wave of his…or her hand.

He was no god.

But the people saw him this way, and trying to deny it would only make their belief stronger.

So he began what he knew he should, he began preparations to bring the Imperium back to dominance. There would be a number of reforms within his empires superstructure, the powers of the inquisition and the Ecclesiarch had to be reduced, the military needed to be given more say in their own campaigns, without inquisitors or cardinals being able to override them.

The Adeptus Mechanicus had taken serious casualties in the brief civil war which engulfed their order. The Martian shipyards and industrial complexes had taken grave damage and would take at least four months to repair, as well as all the buried knowledge which was probably destroyed. Terra herself had suffered an orbital bombardment which cost several city sized areas and ended with the deaths of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of innocent people. The defences of the homeworld had taken serious punishment not inflicted in ten thousand years. It would take time for the centre of Imperial power to resurrect itself.

Technologies needed to be inaugurated into his empire, not just for military needs but also for economic purposes. Trade and technology agreements needed to be made with other empires, particularly their closest rivals, the GFFA. The Emperor was interested in not just their superior fighters and powerful shields, but also in their galactic communication system, the Holonet and their hyperdrive engines.

With these new technologies the entire Imperium could keep in contact with each other, worlds could send distress signals via a holonet which would reach the nearest military system in mere minutes and with hyperdrives large enough forces could be mustered and sent in a fraction of the time they could now. In short with these technologies the Imperium would be unstoppable. And with strong allies she would be invincible.

The Imperium already had a ceasefire agreement with the Tau. He was willing to turn this ceasefire into a proper peace with trade agreements to strengthen the surrounding sectors and a defensive alliance to help protect each other from the approaching shadow of the Tyranid hive-fleets and the constant threat of the scattered Ork empires. The Tau Empire was known for being logical, so he was certain that they would agree.

The Eldar were another matter, unlike the Tau they were the scattered remnants of a powerful empire, their trickery and suspicion was well known. The smaller Craftworlds would probably be more than happy to except peace, as well as severely weakened ones like Lyundan. It was the bigger ones he was worried about. Ulthwe was where the idea of the Eldar being deceitful came from. Others like Biel-Tan and Saim-Hann were the reason why the Imperium considered the Eldar dangerous and warlike.

In order to try and bring all this together the Emperor knew that the fledgling Galactic Coalition was crucial. Sure it was made out of necessity to combat the forces of Chaos in Corusca but it needed to remain. His military had already broadcast their discomfort in an alliance with such nations quite clearly. But times are changing and the Imperium could not go on as it was.

--

**Imperial Palace**

**Terra**

**20 Years Later**

Not in thousands of years had the Imperial palace of Terra been so alive with activity. Three regiments of the finest Imperial Guard alongside the Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter guarded the perimeter. The palace itself was heavily guarded with warriors from every logical empire, a regiment of Imperial Guardsmen, a legion of remnant stormtroopers, a battalion of Alliance marines, Eldar Guardians, Tau fire-warriors, Chiss and Hapan commandoes.

All this security was to protect the delegations within, the main ballroom of the palace had not been used in millennia. Yet the legions of servitors had done their jobs perfectly. Every wall, floor, piece of furniture, even the ceiling had been polished to a shine. The hall was full of representatives, closely guarded by teams of Jedi Knights and Inquisition elites.

Eldar seers and warriors, decked in long flowing robes of colour were within the great halls for the first time in history, representing every surviving Craftworld in the galaxy, brought to the table because of Imperial help in protecting Exodite worlds, pulling Lyundan away from the approaching Tyranid splinter fleets and diverting Ulthwe from being plunged into the eye of terror.

The Celestial caste, leaders of the Tau Empire were also present alongside several well known commanders. The Emperors help in defending their worlds and defeating the Yuuzhan Vong had brought them to the table.

The Galactic Alliances chief of state and supreme commander, as well as the grand Jedi master were also present alongside high ranking military and senate officials. They had been allies to the Imperium since before the Emperors reincarnation, and the help they received in defeating Chaos in both the Chaos Wars, then the Sith incursions were invaluable.

Finally there was the Imperial delegation including military, religious and political leaders. The beginning of this was a little rough edged, ten millennia of war and attrition wouldn't just disappear in a few decades and, naturally the Tau, Eldar and human delegations were weary of each other. That all changed.

It all started when Joseph Halos, recently made supreme commander of the combined Alliance Starfleet asked Lord Inquisitor Robyn Vallace to dance, something which she gladly accepted to get her away from the bristling Imperial bureaucrats. Then Lord Admiral Halcyon asked High Jedi Master Alema Rar to the floor, which she accepted. The selection was as much political as it was by choice, an Imperial lord admiral dancing with a Twi'lek high Jedi master showed how far the alliance had come, plus the lord admiral wanted to see a Twi'leks dancing skills in action.

Slowly the delegations began to mingle and talk, and before long the hallway became a bustling place. Imperial military leaders were talking strategy with Tau, Eldar and Alliance military leaders. Jedi, Inquisitors, Seers and Ethereal's were talking off how to coexist. The Emperor watched this from the balcony, the reason for this party was to bring them all together, let them get to know each other and be more at ease. It was working.

"You will eventually have to let go of me and mingle with the other delegations" Ishta Taldeer-Sabbath cooed as she and her husband, Gabriel Sabbath danced in perfect synchrony to an ancient and beautiful Mon Calamari ballad.

All the other Jedi were doing just that, even the Grand Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker and his wife Mara-Jade were speaking with the Eldar seers of Lyundan on how they were going to relocate them out of the coming Tyranid invasion path. Although Luke was set to step down as the Grand Jedi Master by the end of the year his successor Anakin Solo was more than suited for the job.

"I am mingling" Gabriel replied sheepishly.

"Oh a High Jedi Master dancing with…a Jedi Knight" Ishta replied to his ear, a seductive purr "Sorry my love, but that…doesn't…count"

And with that she pushed him, sending him stumbling back slightly, bumping into the back of another couple. He turned around to make apologies only to find that he wasn't the only one trying to duck out of politics. Han Solo stood before him, dancing with his daughter Jaina.

"Hey" Gabriel whispered "You know that we're supposed to be mingling?"

"Do I have to?"

"If I have to withstand this torture so do you" Gabriel replied, his voice a hiss.

"He's right dad" Jaina replied, pulling out of her fathers arms and moving across the floor to a lone Imperial commissar, who happily excepted her offer. Across the way Ishta was dancing with a duke of the Hapes Consortium and Han was moving off the floor with a pout, only to be assaulted by a bunch of young officers who were wondering if he was the legendary smuggler turned hero.

Smirking Gabriel moved across the way to the Tau supreme commander. It was rare to see Commander Shadowsun without her battle-armour, but it turned out that under the modified crisis suit was a slender woman who would catch a young mans eye.

"Commander Shadowsun" Gabriel greeted with a bow "A pleasure to meet you again"

"Master Sabbath" Shadowsun replied with a bow of her own "The pleasure is all mine"

Eventually the evening had to come to the end, the delegations needed their heads clear for the important events of the next day.

--

The day had come. The leaders of the GC had taken their seats, with hundreds of aides and guards sitting in large spectator stands around them. As the Emperor finally entered the chosen chamber for the first grand meeting of the Galactic Coalition he took a moment to inspect his surroundings.

The chosen arena was similar to one of the ancient Terran senate or parliamentary buildings of the twentieth century. With a large central platform in the centre, this led to row after row of pews and stands to hold the delegations and aides. In the centre of the chamber was a large round table made of solid oak, high backed chairs surrounded it and sitting in these seats were the elected leaders of each empire in the alliance, great and small.

"My friends of two galaxies" the Emperor began, clearing his throat as he spoke "Today is the beginning of a new era for us all. An era of peace and understanding between our respective nations, an era where we set aside our differences for the common good, an era where we can begin to understand each other. The time of single empires and unnecessary battles is over…as of this day we come together under a single banner to unite against the forces of injustice and evil. We come together as the Galactic Coalition!"

_The End_

_**Writers Note**_

**I hope you all have enjoyed this story as much as I have in writing it. I consider this to be the beginning of a few workings on Sci-fi crossovers which I have running around my skull, battering my brain to mush. **

**But before I slap a very proud completed on the front I would just like to thank a few people who have stuck with me and helped me through this from beginning to end. So wherever or whoever the following people are I would just like to say thank you.**

**And unofficially, you are my advisors and design team.**

_**Ravenor **__(For being an encyclopaedia of knowledge for me since the start)_

_**Long Live Warhammer40K (**__For constantly being there to read my work from the moment I put it on until now)_

_**Sparks4 **__(For being the co-leader behind the Warhammer 40K/Star Wars argument) (Warhammer leader)_

_**Karlydee **__(Also for being the co-leader of the Star Wars/Warhammer 40K argument) (Star Wars leader)_

_Although you argued about this on my review panel…I have a forum for this thing so in future…USE THAT!!_

_**Doom Dragon **__(A latecomer but his opinions were solid and he placed his own ideas on the table)_

_**Dangams **__(For constantly pointing out my spelling and grammar errors)_


	69. Author's Note: New Story

_**Star Wars**_

_**Warhammer 40K**_

_**Two Galaxy's Saga**_

_**Authors Note**_

I have had this thought ever since I finished work on the Two Galaxy's Saga, and now that I am older, wiser and have more knowledge of both fictional universes I would like to have another go at it. The new recreation of this story is called _A Long Way from Home _and I am hoping that I will be able to do better this time around.

If you are looking for it just go to my home page, it should be in my stories section. I hope that all those who read and enjoyed my original work will continue to support me in this endeavour.

Thanks

Darth Malleus


End file.
